Green politician Marquardt organizes its Kabul charter flights
“There is no European asylum system that works well”
Eric Marquardt (Greens) said in an interview with WELT reporter Carolina Druten on Lesbos, the EU still does not have a proper system for the distribution of refugees. This makes the continent vulnerable to Erdogan, for example, in the Afghanistan crisis.
An initiative led by Green politician Eric Marquardt seeks to bring the people of Afghanistan to safety. The first evacuation flight is being prepared in detail. Military experts speak of a high-risk project.
aWorkers involved in maritime rescue in the Mediterranean are planning charity-funded charter flights to evacuate people from Kabul. The Civilfleet-Support Association, headed by 33-year-old Green politician Eric Marquardt, claims to have “hired a plane that we will use to fly to Kabul”.
It literally says on the newly launched website kabulluftbruecke.de: “The formalities have been clarified, now it is about implementation.” Details on the timing of the planned charter flight or the size of the aircraft were not given.
So far, the German government has been using A400M military transport aircraft to evacuate vulnerable people since the Islamic Taliban came to power. Missions are considered dangerous. Bundeswehr aircraft practice special approach maneuvers to arrive as late as possible within range of guided weapons and are also equipped with defensive means that a civilian aircraft does not have. It remains to be seen whether civil charter aircraft will also be allowed to land.
Military experts speak of a high-risk project. Currently, the US is still practically in control of the approach and use of the military part of Kabul airport. Last Monday alone there were 152 take-offs and landings.
According to US figures, a total of 21,600 people were evacuated from Kabul within a day. The United States alone carried about 12,700 people with 32 flights of its larger C-17 transport aircraft and five flights of the smaller Hercules C-130. There were also 57 flights from other countries with 8,900 passengers.
“Government needs cooperation in defense”
It is heard from insiders that the United States and the Taliban are reportedly in talks to allow the Kabul airport to continue to operate civilianly, possibly under UN protection, after the United States’ withdrawal on 31 August. should keep.
As stated on the Airlift website, as many people as possible should be rescued from Kabul. “The government needs support in defense, because we hardly have any time.” The association reportedly has “a list of people who need to be rescued and is in contact with hundreds more.”
Literally: “We see there are more options to make airport access more secure and we expect these options to be used in the coming days.” As many planes as possible are to be arranged through donations.
To the best of our knowledge, the charter flights initiative works closely with the status center and operational command. “However, the bureaucratic procedures of the German bureaucracy prevent flexibility in many areas, which we can be sure of,” the campaign website says.
In a video published on Twitter, the Green politician and president of the Civilfleet Support Association speaks of the fact that charter flights to Kabul are “also in consultation with the federal government”. This was not reported in advance as it must be ensured in advance that charter aircraft can be used. “We want to fly to Kabul as often as possible,” says the video message, which is attached to an appeal for donations.
In the short term, no further information could be obtained from the Green politician Marquardt or the Airlift initiative. “We are currently busy round the clock with our evacuation flight to Kabul. Please understand that we cannot give interview at this time as we do not have time,” Pahal said. The Bundeswehr Command and Control Command stated that there were no known discussions about specific plans for charter flights to Kabul.
Marquardt was the spokesman for the Green Youth and since November 2015 has been a member of the Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen party council. Since the European elections in 2019 he has been a member of the European Parliament as part of the Greens/EFA group. He is president of the Berlin Association Civilfleet-Support, which through donations chartered rescue ships for civilian sea rescue in the Mediterranean. The Kabul charter flights initiative, now announced by the association, is believed to be supported by nearly 100 initiatives and groups, as a list under the Appeal for Charity shows.
