The fifth round of the “Vienna Process for a Democratic Afghanistan” was held today, Tuesday, February 18, in Vienna, the capital of Austria, with the participation of dozens of political figures opposed to the Taliban. This two-day conference, hosted by the Vienna Institute for International Studies and under the supervision of retired Austrian diplomat Wolfgang Petritsch, aims to strengthen the unity of anti-Taliban forces and provide solutions for establishing a democratic government in Afghanistan.
At the conference, part of which was held behind closed doors, the leaders of anti-Taliban fronts, including Ahmad Massoud (leader of the National Resistance Front) and Yaseen Zia (leader of the Afghanistan Freedom Front), participated. Ali Maitham Nazari, head of the National Resistance Front’s foreign relations, emphasized on X (formerly Twitter) that more than 90 political, military, and civil figures from Afghanistan attended the conference.
The main discussion topics included reviewing the progress of the “roadmap” approved at last year’s meeting, assessing the critical situation in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, exploring ways to fill the power vacuum, and seeking sustainable peace solutions. They also discussed coordinating efforts to strengthen the fight against the Taliban through uniting military fronts, women’s movements, and civil society organizations.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front issued a statement saying the conference sought to find “solutions for the struggle to free Afghanistan from the illegitimate Taliban rule” and supports a “comprehensive fight to overthrow the Taliban regime and combat terrorism.” Yaseen Zia, who attended the Vienna conference for the first time, called for mobilizing both domestic and international forces against the Taliban.
The Taliban government has not yet responded to this conference, but in the past, it condemned such meetings as “detrimental to Afghanistan’s interests.” Previously, during the fourth round of this conference (June 2024), the opposition had called on the international community not to grant legitimacy to the Taliban and to avoid normalizing relations with them.
Critics argue that despite efforts, the geographic fragmentation and internal differences among the opposition groups have hindered the formation of a united and effective front. Some analysts consider these meetings as merely “symbolic” with no practical impact on the situation in Afghanistan.
The Vienna conferences began about two and a half years ago with the goal of uniting anti-Taliban forces. In previous rounds, there was an emphasis on “armed struggle” and mobilizing people against the Taliban. This fifth round takes place while the Taliban held parallel talks in Doha (June 2024) with United Nations representatives, but no significant agreement was reached.