Kurdish leader meets EU envoy to Iraq in Erbil

By Muhammet Kursun

ERBIL, Iraq

Masoud Barzani, president of northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, met Tuesday with EU Ambassador to Iraq Patrick Simonnet in the city of Erbil.

According to a statement issued by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), Simonnet informed Kurdish officials that EU member states would continue to support Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the ongoing campaign to retake Iraq’s northern city of Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group.

"EU countries are supporting Peshmerga forces in the Mosul operation," the statement read.

Stressing the importance of strong EU-KRG relations, Simonnet noted that the EU had recently stepped up its level of representation in Erbil, which serves as the KRG’s administrative capital.

Barzani, for his part, said the KRG would spare no effort to protect minorities’ rights in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the regional capital.

Barzani also stressed the need for a "political plan" -- rather than just a military one -- to confront Daesh’s formidable presence in northern Iraq.

Relations between Erbil and the central Iraqi government in Baghdad were also discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.