In late July, the Taliban publicly announced that it only recognized five Afghan diplomatic missions in Europe as legitimate: its embassies in the Netherlands, Spain, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, as well as a consulate — in Munich.

"These diplomatic missions follow Afghanistan's orders and represent the country abroad. We have confidence in their work and these activities are carried out transparently," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an interview with DW. "They are accountable and carry out our orders," he added.

To be clear: most of Afghanistan's diplomatic representatives in Europe distanced themselves from the Taliban after they took back power in 2021. They no longer received financing from Kabul, nor did they send regular reports back to the Taliban's Foreign Affairs Ministry. Still, for the last three years, the Taliban did not object to the operations by Afghanistan diplomatic missions and allowed them to carry out consular duties such as extending passports, visas and other documents to the roughly 420,000 Afghans living in Germany.

The Taliban have withdrawn their recognition of Afghanistan's embassy in Berlin and consulate in Bonn, both of which were unwilling to cooperate with them. Therefore, these missions can no longer issue documents which are valid in Afghanistan, losing their largest source of income and making their diplomatic status less certain than ever.

Business at the Munich consulate, however, which appears to directly follow Kabul's orders, is booming. No Afghan diplomats in Berlin or Munich were willing to speak with DW about the situation.

The Foreign Ministry in Berlin reacted to........

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