KABUL - President Ashraf Ghani on Monday thanked the European community for all their assistance to date and for their renewed commitment to help Afghanistan in the coming years.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul after a four-nation visit through Europe that included France, Italy, Germany and Sweden, Ghani said a 10-year economic cooperation framework policy has been drawn up with European partners.
Ghani said "we held frank negotiations with four European nations and we are grateful to them because of their good gestures".
Ghani's first stop was the UN climate change conference in Paris. From there he visited Italy, Germany and Sweden where he held talks with the countries respective leaders.
At Monday's press conference he said he had expressed his sympathies with the French in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, adding that: "Afghans hate extremism. We shouldn't allow a minority group to defame Islam and the Muslim world."
Ghani said this past year has been a particularly tough one for Afghanistan's as enemies unsuccessfully tried to take control of a number of provinces. He said the Afghan people had paid a high price this year for their freedom.
But he went on to say that Afghanistan's improved relations with the international community has been critical for the country.
According to him, one such example was the U.S's decision to keep troops on in the country. He said that now, 40 nations have pledged to continue supporting NATO's Resolute Support mission.
Ghani said the U.S's views over Afghanistan changed after his March meeting with President Barack Obama.
He further added that 2015 had also been a particularly tough year economically for Afghanistan - specifically due to reduced military spending by foreign troops and contractors.
But he said 112 billion Afghanis had so far been collected by the national treasury after government made commitments to the World Bank.
On the subject of economy, Ghani said a major conference is scheduled to take place in Brussels in October next year on Afghanistan's economic development.
However, the focus during his trip to Germany had been on security, he said. "German officials renewed their commitment to keep troops and will continue to help Afghan police," he said.
Ghani also said that Germany has pledged to donate 330 million Euros to Afghanistan until 2020. In addition, he said he had asked the German government to help with the rebuilding of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz following the deadly airstrike in October.
He said that both Sweden and Germany had pledged to help Afghanistan with its housing projects and that "Afghanistan has great export potential. We raised the topic with German officials so that Afghanistan is changed into export market."
Meanwhile, reporting back on his Italian leg of the trip, Ghani said Italy will keep 500 troops at Herat airport and that they had pledged 29 million Euros to reconstruct Herat airport.
He said they will also help with the construction of the Herat-Chisht Road. Another issue raised with Italian officials was that of wind energy, he said.
Swedish officials meanwhile have sealed a ten-year commitment to Afghanistan and pledged one billion euro over this period, he said.
On the subject of migration, he said: "Migration is a painful process". He also defended his recent "dishwasher" comment made during an interview with a German TV channel. He said it wasn't meant to be an insult.
"Our citizens must realize the consequences of illegal migrations. I announced in Europe that rights of Afghan refugees can't be violated."
"EU countries have their own particular migrant laws, they don't care about their [migrants] educational background. They implement their laws," he said.
He went on to say that most educated Afghan refugees are working in non-professional jobs.
However, the Paris attacks have changed the EU migration process, he said. "We must step up efforts and create opportunities to prevent the trend." (Tolonews)