The Holy Father and the President of the European Council, His Excellency Mr. Charles Michel, discussed the situation of the Afghan refugees on Saturday, September 11, 2021, the anniversary of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

The discussion occurred when Pope Francis received Michael in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, reported the Vatican Press Office, which described the discussions as “cordial.” A number of international and regional political issues were discussed, with attention to the situation of Afghan refugees.

In the course of the conversation, reference was made to the forthcoming challenges facing the continent in view of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Following his conversation with the Pope, Michael met with His Eminence Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by His Excellency Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.

Charles Michel, a Belgian politician, has served as President of the European Council since 2019. He previously served as Prime Minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019.

Michel became Minister of Development Cooperation in 2007 and remained in this position until elected the leader of the Francophone liberal Reformist Movement (MR) in February 2011. He led MR to the 2014 federal election, where they emerged as the third-largest party in the Chamber of Representatives. After coalition negotiations, Michel was confirmed as Prime Minister of a MR-N-VA-OVLD-CD&V government. He was sworn in on 11 October 2014, becoming the youngest Belgian Prime Minister since 1845.

In December 2018, the government collapsed following internal disagreements over the handling of the Global Compact for Migration, with the N-VA withdrawing from the cabinet. Michel subsequently tendered his resignation and remained in office in a caretaker capacity. At the 2019 federal election shortly afterward, MR lost a number of seats, although Michel remained in office as interim Prime Minister during coalition negotiations. Weeks after the federal election, on 2 July 2019, the European Council voted to appoint Michel as its new President. He took over from Donald Tusk at a ceremony on 29 November 2019, formally beginning his term on 1 December 2019.