More than 60 countries have reacted to the Taliban's seizure of Kabul and most of Afghanistan, and called for the evacuation of their citizens. There are, however, countries that did not close their embassies. This was reported by Aljazeera.
World reaction was swift after the Taliban closed in on Kabul as a takeover by the armed group appeared imminent on Sunday.
EU Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said in a tweet: “The clock has run out on how long we can wait to adopt the complete overhaul of Europe’s migration and asylum rules we need.”
US President Joe Biden said in a statement before the Taliban entered Kabul, “One more year, or five more years, of US military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country. And an endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the Biden administration was focused “first and foremost on the safety and security” of US diplomatic personnel, who he confirmed were being moved from the embassy to a facility at the airport. Blinken added that the US has “been very clear with the Taliban that any effort on their part to interrupt our operations, to attack our forces, to attack our personnel, would be met with a very strong, decisive response”.
The United Nations chief on Sunday urged the Taliban to “exercise utmost restraint” in Afghanistan, hours after the Taliban entered the capital. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is particularly concerned about the future of women and girls, whose hard-won rights must be protected,” a UN statement said.
Russia’s foreign ministry official Zamir Kabulov said his country is working with other countries to hold an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan.
“We are working on this,” Kabulov told Russian news agencies, adding the meeting will take place.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will seek to recall parliament from its summer break over the developing crisis in Afghanistan, domestic media reported.
Germany’s foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany will begin flying its embassy staff out of Kabul later Sunday, adding that the employees were currently all safe at the military section of the airport.
Saudi Arabia has evacuated all members of its diplomatic mission in Kabul, state news agency SPA said.
The United Arab Emirates foreign ministry said it was working on facilitating the evacuation of foreign diplomatic staff from Afghanistan through airports in the Gulf Arab state.
Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama said his country will temporarily shelter hundreds of Afghans who worked with the Western peacekeeping military forces and are now threatened by the Taliban.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday that the “rapidly evolving situation” in Afghanistan poses challenges for Canada’s diplomatic mission in the country, and as a result, Canadian personnel were on their way back to Canada.
Pope Francis called for dialogue to end the conflict in Afghanistan so that its people can live in peace, security and reciprocal respect.
“I join in the unanimous worry about the situation in Afghanistan. I ask you to pray along with me to the God of peace so that the din of weapons ends and that solutions can be found around a table of dialogue,” Francis said to pilgrims and tourists in Saint Peter’s Square.
Austria’s Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said the instability will “spill over to Europe”.
Sweden will evacuate all its embassy staff from Kabul, public service broadcaster Swedish Radio reported, citing sources.
Pakistan and India refused to close their embassies for the time being.
It's worth noting that the Taliban swept through the country in a devastating week-long offensive after United States-led forces withdrew. Its campaign accelerated to lightning speed in the last week, capturing Kandahar and Herat, the country’s second and third-largest cities, and shocking Western countries as the Afghan military’s defences collapsed. Now, the Afghan president fled and the Taliban controls almost all of the country.