"We stood firm to the very end of our mission"Evacuation from Afghanistan. Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: We stood firm to the very end of our mission as a faithful and valuable ally

We have persevered in Afghanistan until the very end of our mission as a faithful and valuable ally; the evacuation was successful and did not result in any loss of life

— emphasised the head of Polish diplomacy Zbigniew Rau.

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the decision to start the mission in Afghanistan was made when the Taliban gave shelter to the organisers of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

He stressed that the decision to participate in the mission in Afghanistan was driven by two objectives - to establish Poland’s position as a valuable NATO ally and to include our part of Europe in the zone of security and political stability.

After the United States withdrew most of its troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban took control of large parts of the country, as well as the capital, Kabul. The EU and NATO countries organised the evacuation of their citizens and colleagues from Afghanistan.

The evacuation, which was carried out by Polish forces, took place using military planes from Kabul to Uzbekistan, from where civilian LOT Polish Airlines planes carried evacuees to Poland. The first plane carrying evacuees landed in Warsaw on Wednesday 18 August, and the evacuation mission itself lasted about a week. In the end, all six Polish citizens who had approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several hundred Afghan collaborators of Polish services were finally evacuated. Poland also evacuated associates of allied countries and international institutions, including staff of the International Monetary Fund.

READ MORE: Afghan Polish evacuation mission - summary. „Fourteen aircraft have transported almost 1,300 people”

Tłum. K.J.