SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi met with a high-level delegation from the Kurdistan Region in Baghdad on Thursday.
Kadhimi and the delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani discussed the latest political and security developments in the country, according to a statement by the premier’s office.
“They also discussed issues related to the federal budget … in a manner that guarantees a fair distribution of wealth among Iraqis without discrimination or differentiation, and in accordance with Iraqi constitution,” Kadhimi’s office said.
Despite a series of meetings between Iraqi and Kurdish officials, Baghdad and Erbil have yet to reach a final agreement on their suspending issues, including oil and border crossings.
The draft budget law commits the Kurdistan Region to hand over 250,000 barrels of oil per day and non-oil revenue to Baghdad in exchange for the Region’s share of the budget.
On Tuesday, U.N. envoy to Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said agreements on the federal budget for 2021 “requires reconciliation and compromise” between Baghdad and Erbil.
“Those who have followed the recent budgetary negotiations closely, will have realized that these negotiations were not just centered on technical questions – such as barrels per day. They were also inherently political – about deeper misgivings and mistrust,” she said.
“So, let me re-emphasize: a positive, stable relationship between federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region is absolutely essential to the stability of the whole country,” she added.
