ERBIL (Kurdistan Chronicle) — Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani is in Germany to take part in the Munich Security Conference which he seizes to bolster Kurdistan’s international relations. 

During the first two days, Barzani met on the sidelines of the conference with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, US Assistance Secretary of State Celeste Wallander, Yezidi activist Nadia Murad, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, European Commission Vice President Josep Borrel, and German Parliament’s Deputy Head Thomas Arundel. 

Relations with the Kurdistan Region, trade and investment, the ongoing war against the Islamic State (IS), and ways to expand ties topped the majority of the meeting agendas. 

While praising US’ support for the Peshmerga Forces during the meeting with the senior State Department delegation, the Kurdish president also hailed the role of the Coalition forces in the reform process within the Peshmerga Ministry including the unification of the Kurdish forces.

In a separate meeting with the Vice President of European Commission and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the EU’s continued support for the ongoing dialogue between Erbil and Baghdad was reiterated. 

“Mr. Borrel stressed that the peace, stability and welfare of Iraq is of importance to the European Union,” President Nechirvan Barzani’s press office said. 

Later the same day while meeting a German parliamentary delegation, Barzani thanked Berlin for the military and humanitarian support of Germany and the Bundestag to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. 

He also expressed gratitude for the extension of German troops deployment in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region as part of the international coalition, and also for the recognition of the mass killing of Yezidis as genocide, according to a press release. 

The Munich Security Conference also provided a chance for the president of Kurdistan and Iraq’s Prime Minister Muhammed Shiaa al-Sudani to meet and discuss Erbil-Baghdad relations and the ongoing dialogue to resolve differences. 

“The status of the Iraqi economy including the budget, the challenges facing the country, and Iraq’s position in the wider region were highlighted,” a statement by the presidency of Kurdistan Region said. “Both sides commended the continuation of the Erbil-Baghdad negotiations on the basis of the Constitution, and agreed that the current state of Iraq and the challenges facing the country require the collective efforts of all sides and communities.”

Also in the meeting, the latest visit of the Iraqi delegation to the US and the measures taken by the Iraqi Federal Government to protect the Iraqi economy, Iraq’s relations with the neighboring and regional countries, and preserving peace and stability along the borders were highlighted.