EU-Parliament delegation visited Kurdistan

by Roni Alasor and Lorin Sarkisian

Brussels, 19 March 2015 - Middle East Diplomatic (MED) - A delegation from the European Parliament (EP) visited the Kurdistan Regional Government. KRG and EU discussed the latest developments and cooperation between the EU and Kurdistan.

The EU delegation met the President of Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, the KRG Department of Foreign Relations Minister Falah Mustafa and several KRG heads of institutions.

The EP delegation was composed by Mr. Afzal Khan, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence, Ms. Jana  Hybaskova, EU Ambassador in Iraq and members of the European Parliament, Mr. Juan fernando López Aguilar and Mr. Eldar Mamadov, foreign policy advisor to Social-Democratic (S&D) group in the European Parliament.

The Kurdish side was represented by Mr. Karwan Jamal, Deputy Head of DFR and Delavar Ajgeiy, KRG Representative to the EU also attended the meeting.

According DFR, the EU delegation highly praised the role of the Kurdish military forces Peshmerga in the fight against ISIS terror and commented on KRG’s efforts in caring for over 1.5 million refugees and displaced people in the Kurdistan Region, regardless of their ethnic and religious background.

Minister Falah Mustafa briefed the delegation on the latest military developments on the ground, the needs of refugees and displaced people in the Kurdistan Region as well as the political challenges in Iraq, including Erbil-Baghdad relations. Minister Mustafa also outlined ways in which relations between the EU and the Kurdistan Region can be strengthened. He said, “We would like to see increased engagement from the European Parliament and the European Union to help Iraq move in the right direction.”

Both sides highlighted the importance of the EU having a representative office in Kurdistan and assistance from the EU to ensure that the Kurdistan Region benefits from the cooperation agreements signed between Iraq and the EU. Ambassador Hybaskova announced that the European Union Office will soon be opened in Erbil in order to further cooperation between the EU and KRG.

Minister Mustafa welcomed the announcement and stated that during this challenging time the EU can play an important role as a partner to overcome to the current challenges and to support the institutions of the region.

Source and photo: KRG Department of Foreign Relations