Kabul/Vienna – On August 15, 2021, the Taliban took over Kabul’s presidential palace – and thus, de facto, the government in the long-contested Hindu Kush state. After that, it was time to wait, including at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna. Minister Alexander Schallenberg said in an interview with “ZiB 2” in late August that Islamic radicals should be “judged for their actions.” He later repeated the statement, but added that at the first fork on the road to his new government, the Taliban had likely “turned in the wrong direction”. In other parts of the West, too, the first months of the new Afghan government were watched more closely as observers. However, a year later, it is possible to take stock of the most important issues.
