Weak state structures and corruption hamper Afghanistan's economic development, German Foreign Minister said

Almaty. October 5. Silkroadnews – Situation in Afghanistan remains a troubled, the country's path to stability and peace is still quite long, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, AfTAG reports.

«Many areas still suffer from fierce, people still lose their loved ones and friends as results of terrorist attacks. In addition, the relatively weak state structures and corruption hamper the economic development of the country. This all against the background of the political positional battle makes the peace process even more complicated», Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in his interview with Spiegel.

«But we cannot leave Afghanistan halfway and pose a threat to what has been achieved so far. We want to see the country less dependent on international aid and the Afghans not to be forced to leave it but see their future in their homeland», the minister said.

The Brussels conference, he said, will focus on the further funding provision to Afghanistan.

«At the same time we expect the Afghan government to fulfill their obligations regarding the progress in reforms implementation”, in particular in the security forces development, efforts to combat corruption and human rights protection, Steinmeier said.

According to the German Foreign Ministry, the German government annually provides 430 million euro to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan and restore civilian infrastructure, and another 80 million euro – to develop the Afghan security forces. Next four years Germany is ready to allocate up to 1.7 billion euro as the aid to the country, the Foreign Ministry noted.