SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) deputy prime minister, Qubad Talabani, received the German and French Ambassadors to Iraq, in Erbil on Sunday.
The deputy prime minister welcomed Martin Jaeger, the German ambassador, and Eric Chevalier, the French ambassador.
In a meeting, which was also attended by the German and French Consul Generals in the Kurdistan Region, they shed the light on the latest political developments.
The deputy head of the Kurdistan Region department of foreign relations, Daban Shadala, attended the meeting as well.
The Kurdish official and the diplomats also discussed the relations between the Kurdistan Region and Germany along with France.
During the meeting, the deputy prime minister mentioned the Kurdistan Region political issues, according to a statement from Talabani’s media office.
The deputy prime minister further referred to the future steps to address the political issues, the office in the statement added.
He also told the joint German-French delegation that the issues “must be addressed through discussion for the sake of the public interest.”
Speaking on the relations with the Iraqi government the KRG deputy prime minister stated, “There is good understanding to address the issues with incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani,” he said.
The Kurdish official expected that the understanding would be “reflected” in the Iraqi national budget law of 2023 which is a “major” problem between the Kurdish and Iraqi governments, according to his words.
“We choose to address the overall outstanding issue with Baghdad with an agreement,” the deputy prime minister added.
Moreover, discussions with the senior diplomat delegation also highlighted the issue of energy, particularly oil and gas.
The deputy prime minister stressed that there should be a “compromise” on the energy issue, adding that “This is a national issue.”
“There should be a compromise regarding the energy issue so that the national wealth and revenue can be used for people’s welfare,” he said.
Moreover, discussions touched upon the Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections, where the deputy prime minister laid emphasis on holding a “pure” election.
He further stressed that the political parties’ observations and the rights of all components must be taken into account before the election, the statement said.
