“Several European countries are considering reopening their embassies in Afghanistan in a move that would entail diplomatic recognition of the Taliban almost three years after the fall of Kabul, according to people familiar with the matter. In a sign of potential interest, Italy conducted a reconnaissance mission with its intelligence services in Kabul in the past few weeks, said some of the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive plans. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed Rome’s ambassador, currently posted to Doha, Qatar, had visited Kabul. “We are working on it. There has been a mission by our ambassador,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington last week. “There are human rights problems. The solution is very complicated, it will take time.” Western nations, including the US, left Afghanistan after hastily evacuating nationals and security personnel in 2021, as Kabul fell to the Taliban, who had mounted a decades-long insurgency after being toppled from power in 2001.