Baghdad Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi met today, Wednesday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the Commission’s headquarters, as part of his official visit to Belgium.

During the meeting, Al-Kadhimi praised the role of the European Union in committing to Iraq’s unity and sovereignty over its territory, as well as looking forward to EU’s support in the field of reconstruction of cities liberated from ISIS and fulfilling the pledges of the Kuwait Donors Conference in 2018, in the field of reviving infrastructure and providing services at a level befitting the Iraqi citizen.

He explained that the government is determined to make the early elections that will be held in October a success, and thus looks forward to the European Union’s support for these elections in the field of technical support for the Electoral Commission and electoral observation and coordination with the UNAMI mission on the way to complete the international efforts for electoral support authorized by the UN Security Council.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister referred to the efforts made to remove Iraq’s name from the European Commission’s list of countries with a high risk of money laundering, and called to form a committee to coordinate between the two parties in this regard, to support the government’s efforts in fighting corruption and recovering and prosecuting smuggled funds in European countries.

He renewed the government’s confidence in its reform program through the white paper, pointing to its efforts in attracting investors and facilitating their work in Iraq, calling on the European Commission to support these steps and support Iraq’s direction towards financial and economic reform.

For her part, von der Leyen praised the economic reforms pursued by the Iraqi government headed by Al-Kadhimi, and considered the white paper and anti-corruption mechanisms steps towards bold reforms that it is important for Iraq to pursue, stressing the Commission’s support for them.

She explained that the approval of the date of the early Iraqi elections by the government came as a very important step, and expressed all readiness to help, and that the Commission had taken a decision in this regard.

She described the Iraqi victory over terrorism as a great and appreciated act by the European side, and that the European Union will continue to provide support to the Iraqi armed forces.

She praised the balanced policy pursued by the government of Al-Kadhimi externally, which strengthened Iraq’s international position and supported the strengthening of its foreign relations.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency