President Barzani met with Belgium and EU officials this week in Brussels to discuss strengthening and expanding relations with EU member states.

In this visit, he met with the President of Belgium’s Senate Sabine de Bethune, President of Belgium’s Chamber of Representatives André Flahaut, Belgium Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere, President of the EU Delegation for Relations with Iraq Stuan Stesvenson, and President of the Socialist and Democrat Group in the EU Parliament.

The meetings between President Barzani and the Belgium officials focused on establishing and promoting bilateral relations between Belgium and the Kurdistan Region. President Barzani encouraged Foreign Minister Vanackere to move their embassy from Amman, Jordan, to Baghdad and to also consider opening a consulate in Erbil.

For his part, Foreign Minister Vanackere lauded the political and economic progress in the Kurdistan Region and expressed his country’s desire to establish ties with the Kurdistan Region.

In his meetings with EU officials, President Barzani urged the more active involvement of EU member states in the reconstruction process in Iraq and in the Kurdistan Region. He asked for mutual expansion of economic and political cooperation and underscored the need for expanding European investment in Kurdistan and Europe’s role in encouraging the democratic process in Iraq, as well as its economic progress.

Struan Stevenson, MEP, described the visit by President Barzani as constructive for EU strategic relations with Iraq and particularly Iraqi Kurdistan, and looked forward to these relations being expanded in the future.

The EU representatives expressed their common desire for continuing progress and the improvement of human rights inside Iraq, together with respect for the rights of ethnic minorities and different religions. To this end, Mr. Stevenson said that the Kurdistan Region acts as a shining example to the rest of Iraq in its peaceful environment of co-existence and tolerance of ethnic and religious difference.