Barzani, Kadhimi stress ‘national cooperation’ in Baghdad meeting

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani  and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi discussed resolving Erbil-Baghdad issues through "national cooperation" in their first meeting in Baghdad on Saturday.

According to a readout from the Iraqi prime minister's office, Barzani and Kadhimi stressed "the importance of national cooperation and solidarity in order to overcome the current challenges, especially the economic crisis caused by the decline in global oil prices, which was caused by the corona pandemic."

President Barzani tweeted that he also met President Barham Salih and Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi.

Currently facing a severe economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the collapse of global oil prices, the new Iraqi government decided last week to scrap plans to hash out its 2020 budget and will instead focus on formulating a budget for 2021, due to a deficit in oil revenues. 

The Kurdistan Region’s independent oil sales, budget disagreements, and the issue of the disputed territories continue to be points of contention between Erbil and Baghdad. 

In his meetings with his Iraqi counterparts and other Baghdad authorities, Barzani has frequently reaffirmed the Region's readiness to resolve their issues on the basis of the constitution as well as supporting a stable and secure Iraq.

"Erbil and Baghdad are ready to open up all of their [contentious] portfolios in order to overcome the ongoing problems," Khadimi's advisor Hisham Dawood told Rudaw on Saturday.

"Baghdad's problems are those of Erbil and Erbil's problems are also those of Baghdad. There is a mutual readiness to remove the barriers in the way of reaching a solution," Dawood added. 

He added that both sides have agreed to "continue the meetings".

Updated at 10.44pm