ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Germany’s Consul General in Erbil, Albrecht von Wittke, has urged Kurdish political parties to quickly form a new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet, warning that political delays are undermining effective governance. He also clarified legal routes for obtaining German visas.
In an interview with Rudaw's Shaho Amin on Sunday, von Wittke said Germany views government formation as "very important" following the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections. “If you have elections and then nothing changes, that's problematic,” he said, adding that “a unified government and a legitimized government, legitimized by democratic elections, is much more powerful” in defending the Region’s interests, particularly in talks with Baghdad.
The Kurdistan Region held long-delayed parliamentary elections in October 2024, with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) winning 39 of the 100 seats and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) securing 23. With no party holding a majority, government formation talks have continued for months but recently stalled over disagreements on governance mechanisms and key posts. Meanwhile, the Iraqi legislature held its first session for the sixth cabinet on Monday with the parliament speaker and his first deputy voted in.
Regarding the security cooperation between the Region and Germany, von Wittke addressed the reform and unification of the Peshmerga forces, a process supported by Germany and coalition partners.
“The process is not where we want it to be, but it’s good to see that the process is moving forward,” he said, emphasizing that “a unified Peshmerga force for that would be a very important asset” for stability in the region.
The US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) has been assisting the KRG for years to unify all Peshmerga forces, especially those affiliated with the ruling KDP and the PUK.
Last month, Unit 80 - a powerful Peshmerga unit affiliated with the KDP - completed all required procedures to integrate into the KRG’s peshmerga ministry. However, the PUK-affiliated Unit 70 is not fully ready to join the ministry yet, according Unit 70 spokesperson Ahmed Latif.
Economic relations between Germany and the Kurdistan Region were also discussed in the interview. Von Wittke said German products enjoy strong trust locally and that Berlin is working to expand trade and investment.
“What I think we would need to do in furthering and fostering our business relations would be to bring also more Kurdish products to Germany,” he said, also noting efforts to "bring more German investment into Kurdistan to give people employment, to create job opportunities, [and] to help diversify the economy."
On visas and migration, the German consul general addressed public frustration over German visa procedures, revealing that the Erbil consulate processed 17,500 visa applications in 2024.
He said delays are often linked to poor-quality applications. “Unfortunately… we have a bad quality of applications,” he said, citing incomplete or falsified documents and warning that such cases slow the process for others.
The interview also covered legal migration pathways, family reunification, and Germany’s tightened immigration policy, with the consul urging applicants to pursue legal routes and avoid illegal migration, which he described as “very dangerous” with “extremely slim” chances of success.
The following is the full transcript of the interview with Albrecht Von Wittke, German Consul General in Erbil:
Rudaw: It's nice to see you, Mr. Consul.
Albrecht von Wittke: Thank you very much for having me.
You're most welcome. Merry Christmas. And I wonder how your Christmas was in Erbil in Kurdistan?
It was very nice. We had organized a little Christmas celebration at the consulate. We have borrowed the priest from our Bundeswehr [German armed forces] comrades at the Erbil Air Base, who did a little ceremony, and then we had a very nice preparation of a nice Christmas dinner.
How come you are here? How come you didn't go back to Germany? Christmas has more rituals in Germany for you.
Yes, well, some of our colleagues have gone back to Germany for Christmas, but some colleagues have to stay here, and we celebrated all together those who remained.
Did you see the Christmas custom in Kurdistan, the Christians in Ankawa, Shaqlawa, or any other places? Have you been there?
Yes, we've been there, and we've also followed a Christmas service at the Assyrian Church of the East, which was very impressive to us.
For the New Year, you definitely celebrated it here in Kurdistan.
Yes, I will as well, together with some colleagues.
Recently, the United States opened the biggest consulate in Erbil. What's your plan? Do you have any plans to enlarge your consulate here?
Well, actually, our consulate already is quite a large outfit in German standards, even. We're currently very well-placed, and we feel very, very good where we are, so there are no plans to relocate at the moment.
Do you know that Kurdish people welcome German products very much and they like them? How do you see the trade between the Region and your country?
I see that the German brand name is a very trusted one, and I think that's very positive for German companies. So I think there's a lot of trade, a lot of imports from Germany. What I think we would need to do in furthering and fostering our business relations would be to bring also more Kurdish products to Germany, but also, maybe if the overall business environment is a suitable one, to bring more German investment into Kurdistan to give people employment, to create job opportunities, to help diversify the economy.
What's the plan for that? Is there any particular plan to promote trade between Berlin and Erbil?
Well, we are constantly working together with the German Chamber of Commerce, which has the task of promoting business relations here in the Region. We support business delegations from the Kurdistan Region going to Germany, for example, for trade fairs, but we're also encouraging participation in trade fairs from Germany and at the beginning of February, we'll be bringing a business delegation from Germany to both Baghdad but also Erbil, and we hope that this will also be a very important impulse for German-Kurdish business relations.
Some companies in Kurdistan would like to or try to become a partner with the companies or brands in Germany. Do you think that's possible or easy?
I think that's totally possible. As you say, the German brand name here is - is a very good one. So there's a lot of interest, and I think the German Chamber of Commerce, which also has an office in Erbil, can always be very helpful in that. So if there's an interest in who can provide what kind of products or goods, they are the right people to talk to.
For years, there has been a process here. It's called the reform and unification of the Peshmerga forces. And your government, Germany, plays an impartial role in this reform, this unification. How do you see the process? Are you happy with it? Is it slow? Is it fast?
Let's say the process is not where we want it to be, but it's good to see that the process is moving forward. I think since we started the process together with our coalition allies, we've made important progress. For us, the important thing is to keep the security, to keep the stability in the region. And I think a unified Peshmerga force for that would be a very important asset. So we're working together with our colleagues from the coalition to actually ensure that. We don't exactly know what will happen after OIR [Operation Inherent Resolve] lapses, and therefore, I think also the Kurdish politicians and the Kurdish military that govern the Peshmerga forces have a strong interest in actually speeding up the process and completing the unification of the Peshmerga.
You said the process is not what we want. What's the challenge that slows down the process?
I think every transformation takes its time, and I understand that here in Kurdistan, the parties are used to having their own Peshmergas, and the idea of having one Peshmerga force for the whole of the region is a new one. So I think this needs to sink in. And then I think we need to see more of this unified spirit in the force as well.
People in Kurdistan and Iraq love to go to Germany. I usually hear complaints from people who apply for a visa. They say it's quite difficult, they don’t get an early response, and get lots of rejection. Why?
Well, the things are interlinked. First of all, we have a very large volume of visa requests. So last year, in 2024, we had 17,500 cases of visa applications. And there are different categories. I won't go into the details. But what my colleagues who do the visa work tell me is that, unfortunately, as compared with other visa sections worldwide, we have a bad quality of applications, which means applications are either incomplete or even they come with falsified documents. And the review of these documents takes much more time than it takes in other average cases. And that's one of the factors that slows down our visa process. So in a way, those people that either hand in uncomplete, incomplete, or falsified documents, they slow down the process for others. So I can only appeal to everyone to look carefully at the instructions, to submit a full set of documents that is required for the visa application and that will be the first step towards getting a visa.
Apart from people in the Kurdistan Region, from the other parts of Kurdistan, they still apply for a visa through your consulate here, like Western Kurdistan in Syria and other countries. They all apply from here. Do you issue visas for them, too?
Let's say, in general, to apply for a visa, you have to have residence in the area where the consulate or the embassy operates. There's an exception for people from northeast Syria because the German embassy in Damascus is not doing visa work for the moment. I don't know when that will resume. We have an embassy presence there, but not yet a visa section. So for the time being, people from northeast Syria, from Syria in general, with residence in Syria, can apply in Erbil for a visa for longer periods. So, for an extended stay of more than 90 days. So, not the Schengen visa but the extended stay visa.
Okay. In the last few years, has there been any kind of corruption in the visa process by people who apply or anything related to this issue?
The problem I think here is that there are a lot of agencies which suggest to people that they can speed up the visa process. And I think it's also through these agencies that some of the falsified documents come into play. I just can confirm everybody can hand in his visa application, and it's no wizardry. It's really important to have the full documentation. There are clear checklists on our homepage and everybody can do it by themselves. Everybody in the end, well, you can't hand it in online but you can get the checklist online on the consulate's webpage. And everybody can hand in the visa application. And the important thing is that the applicant is responsible for the visa application, not the agency that assists somebody. So in the end, ultimately, it's still the applicant that is responsible for the documents that are handed in.
So it means that some agencies submit false documents aiming to get a visa for what kind of reason? To go to Germany, not to come back, or to apply for asylum, these sorts of things?
There may be different reasons. Obviously, people that submit falsified documents don't explain why they do that. We have a high number of asylum seekers from Iraq. We don't differentiate between people from central Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in our statistics, but Iraq ranks fourth amongst the asylum seekers in Germany, still. And to seek asylum, you need to come to Germany. So there are illegal ways to come to Germany, or people try to use a tourist visa, for example, but then claim asylum.
Regarding people in Kurdistan, Kurds, Syrian in Western Kurdistan in Syria, they apply for a family reunion visa.
Yes.
Do you have facilities for them, or has it been stopped for a while?
No, I think there's been some, let's say, confusion. There has been a certain category of family reunification visas which has actually been suspended. That concerns family reunification with people who have so-called subsidiary protection status in Germany. But for others, like people who want to be reunited with either a German citizen or somebody who has already been granted asylum in Germany, somebody who is working in Germany legally and has residence there, and so on, all those applications are still continuing regardless whether you come from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq or whether you come from northeast Syria. So that's continuing. For those who want to join a relative in Germany, and if that relative, for example, has asylum status, there is also a support center by the [International Organization for Migration] IOM, the Family Assistance Program. They offer advice, and they are also helping people in putting together the relevant documentation. But that's only those specific cases.
The new government in Germany insists on deporting people. What will be the fate of the Yazidi people who have been welcomed warmly in Germany?
So, as you all know, when Daesh [ISIS] attacked not only the Kurds, but very much focused on the Yazidis as well. Germany accepted alot of…
Yazidis are Kurdish.
Sorry?
Yazidis are Kurdish too…
Well…
But the religion is different, yeah.
Anyway, so there were a lot of Yazidis who claimed asylum in Germany and who were granted asylum in Germany. But now, we consider the situation very much different. So those that have been granted asylum can stay in Germany, but there are people who have whose application for asylum has been rejected, and they need to leave the country. Like everybody else who has no residence status. So this is not special for the Yazidis, basically for everybody who tries to get permanent residence in Germany and then whose application is rejected ultimately has to leave the country. So they get an information, and they are asked to leave the country on a voluntary basis. And if that does not happen, there are ways for the German government to repatriate those people.
Do you have data on how many German people who are holding German passport live in the Kurdistan Region?
No, actually, we don't. Because, because there's no obligation to register with us. We have for, let's say, purposes of security and so on, we ask people to voluntarily register with the consulate, but that's mainly Germans who don't have roots in the Kurdistan Region. We know that there are really a lot of dual citizens, and, but we don't exactly know the number. But it's several thousand we suspect.
Okay. Many young people from the younger generation who graduated or are aiming to study to work, they would like to go to Germany work or study. What kind of facility do you have for students to apply for a master's or PhD in Germany, or to work there?
So there's a possibility to go to Germany, and actually Germany welcomes these types of immigrants because we are very much in need of qualified immigrants, but the term is qualified immigrants, because of our demographic change. Germany has an ageing society, and to keep up our economic level, we need to rely on foreigners coming to Germany. There are different ways, for example, if you intend to study in Germany, there's the German Academic Exchange Service [DAAD] that gives advice. But there's also the intention to open a center, a cooperation between the so-called GIZ [German Agency For International Cooperation], so the German centers for jobs, repatriation and mobility and migration, that work together with the JCC, the Joint Crisis Center that is governed by the Ministry of Interior of the Kurdistan Region and they will open an office where advice specifically on skilled labor migration to Germany will be given.
What are the legal mechanisms for young people to go to Germany to work?
They also need to apply for a visa. Normally, they should actually look for employment in Germany from here. That's totally possible. And once they have employment, then they can apply for a visa, and together with their qualification, their language certificate, and so on, they can hand in their visa application. That's a process that is governed centrally. So there are authorities in Germany that are looking at the visa applications, but basically, the consulate here is the window, the service window for these types of applications.
Is the immigration policy as easygoing as before? What kind of plan do you have to work with the KRG to stop illegal immigration from here to Germany?
The German immigration policy has tightened with the new government. That's right. You will remember that we accepted a lot of refugees, especially from Syria. Over one million Syrians came to Germany during the course of the civil war there. But to continue our model to be able to accept refugees, people that are oppressed, people that are persecuted, we need to actually be more restrictive on people that have no legal grounds to stay in Germany. So that's the reason why we are, we have become more strict.
We can only advise anyone to stop going to Germany via illegal migration routes. It's very dangerous. It's very costly and the chances of getting asylum in Germany are really extremely slim because you need to be able to prove that you're individually persecuted politically. So basically, saying I have different little economic perspectives [prospective] in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is not a reason to ask for asylum. So as I said, there are ways for skilled labor, for qualified people to come to Germany, and you should use these ways to try to get a visa and then legally get to Germany. That's a much better way to ensure that you get what you want. You should not, you should not rely on the advice of people who actually benefit from you trying to go the illegal way to Germany.
You said you have accepted over a million refugees in the last years. Do you think the German community got lots of benefits from these people? What's your view, what's the community's view regarding all these foreigners in your country?
Lot of the Syrians that have come to Germany are now firmly integrated in Germany. So we have had, for example, a lot of doctors. I think there's more than 6,000 doctors from Syria who are now really an important part of our health system. We have nurses from Syria and so on. So we try to integrate people into our society, and if there's a willingness to be integrated, that's really ideal. Because as I said, we need these people for our labor market, for our social system, for our health system, and we're very happy to have them also because it enriches our being, our culture, and so on.
But there are some people that cannot stay, either because they don't want to integrate or they have difficulties integrating, and we are trying to help them return to their home countries. We try to help countries create the conditions where it's actually interesting for them, beneficial for them to return. That's what we are trying to do in Syria, but that's what we are also trying to do here in the Kurdistan Region. So, for example, we have a very special German school which has around 200 pupils, and they mainly cater for people who have been returning from Germany to the Kurdistan Region. Not because they were forced to, but this school is an important incentive for people to say look I can actually give my children who have started in the German school system a good school education, also in the Kurdistan Region, also in Erbil.
Mr. Consul, how can an elderly person integrate into the community when all their life was spent in a community not like one in Europe? How can these types of people integrate?
I think that's also always a very, very individual decision. Obviously, first of all, a person of that age should ask themselves, "Will I be really happy in Germany?" Because if I have spent my whole life in the Kurdistan Region or in Syria and so on, will I be happy? Why do I want to go to Germany? But I think at the same time, there are certainly ways to integrate in Germany even at that age. So it's not a question of age. Obviously, at the age of 60, it's difficult to find work and so on if you haven't been in the German system. But I wouldn't exclude anyone integrating there. But again, there are probably very slim chances to get to Germany other than, for example, joining your spouse who has been in Germany already.
It has been well over a year since the parliamentary election was held in the Region, and so far, the new government hasn't been formed. You meet with Kurdish leaders from both sides, the ruling PUK and KDP. What do you think? What's the next plan, as far as you know, for forming the new government?
So the message I constantly get is that they're working on it. I have to say we think it's very important that a new government will be formed swiftly. There are a number of reasons. One is obviously the credibility of the democratic process. If you have elections and then nothing changes, that's problematic. So I think for the people to see that their vote counts, it's important that you see that there's a transformation of the election result into the government formation.
But I think it's also another political issue that means the interests of the Kurdistan Region need to be defended. And I think a unified government and a legitimized government, legitimized by democratic elections, is much more powerful. There's currently government formation in Baghdad. There will be lots of discussions between Erbil and Baghdad on different things. We just heard that the oil deal between Baghdad and Erbil has been renewed for the next three months. That's a good sign, but there will be different things to be discussed and to be agreed upon between Erbil and Baghdad.
And I think a joint government has much better chances of really translating the interests of the Kurdish people into real political action. So, therefore, I think it's very important, and one last thing, and one last aspect, I think the Kurdistan Region is very welcoming also to the security support they receive from the international community, from the coalition against Daesh. That is supposed to end probably in September next year, in September 2026. And we need to find a follow-on solution to that. And also for that, defending Kurdish interests vis-a-vis interests that might be different from the perspective of some of the people in Baghdad, it's very important to have a unified government.
Mr. Albrecht von Wittke, the General Consul of Germany. That's all from me. Many thanks.
Thank you. Thank you for having me.