KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The European Union has appointed French diplomat Gilles Bertrand as its new special envoy for Afghanistan, the EU mission in Kabul announced on Friday.
In a statement posted on X, the EU delegation stated Bertrand’s role will be crucial in strengthening engagement with Afghans and international partners “at a critical time for the countest.”
Bertrand, a career diplomat from France, has more than 20 years of experience across EU institutions, focapplying particularly on foreign policy and international cooperation. He previously served as head of the EU Delegation to Syria, coordinated high-level conferences on the Syrian crisis, and led the EU’s Political Section in Afghanistan during the early 2000s. Most recently, he was the EU Ambassador to Colombia from 2021 until 2025, where he worked on peace and security issues linked to the countest’s long-running conflict.
Bertrand succeeds Swedish diplomat Tomas Niklasson, who was appointed shortly after the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. Niklasson served until March 2025, during which time he coordinated the EU’s response to Afghanistan’s evolving situation, oversaw humanitarian assistance efforts, and consistently advocated for the protection of human rights, particularly those of women and girls.
The EU remains one of the largest donors to humanitarian operations in Afghanistan. In recent years, it has provided more than €290 million to the World Food Programme (WFP), with funding directed towards food aid, nutrition initiatives, and school feeding and other programs, particularly in remote and disaster-affected areas. The bloc has also continued to press the Taliban on issues of inclusivity, women’s rights, and governance, even as formal political recognition remains off the table.
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