The EU has kept its promise to Afghanistan. In 2002 Brussels had in fact pledged to allocate at least a billion euros over five years for the country’s reconstruction. The figure was reached in recent days thanks to the adoption of two decisions in favour respectively of the services to the local populations provided by the provincial governments and an agro-industrial project on seed varieties. The funds for reconstruction – whose disbursement has now exceeded 80% of the commitment – have had and will have various destinations: in the first place, support for the public administration and reform of the security sector (training and payment of the salaries of 332,000 civil servants and policemen); rural development and basic infrastructural works in rural areas; the healthcare sector (it is calculated that thanks to EU funds 4 million afghans have been medically treated and at least 110 healthcare centres including hospitals, clinics and local surgeries refurbished); major infrastructures (roads, motorways, hydroelectric systems); the repatriation of almost two million displaced persons; mine-clearing operations; the crackdown on drug trafficking, to which the EU has so far contributed 41 million euros. The Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, has expressed her satisfaction: “in Afghanistan the European Commission is really making the difference”.
