MUNICH, Germany - The United States will continue its “strong” relations with the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, American Senator Chris Van Hollen said on Friday.
“It's a very strong relationship between the United States and the people in Kurdistan, and of course with President Barzani, and with the whole of Iraq. And so I look forward, in meetings here in Munich, to further strengthen those relationships,” the senator told Rudaw ahead of his meeting with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, noting that he and the Kurdish leader have known each other “for a long time.”
“I think the United States will continue its strong relationship with the people of Kurdistan and all of Iraq,” he added, noting that “there are obviously lots of important issues with respect to the United States and relationship with Kurdistan and with Iraq.”
“One issue that comes up repeatedly is the question of the oil and the pipeline to Turkey. I know that Iraq recently passed a new amendment, so we're hoping that will be resolved,” Hollen said.
The Iraqi government had proposed the budget amendment in November, but lawmakers only passed the bill recently following months of debate.
The change to the budget is a key factor in resuming Kurdish oil exports, which have been suspended since March 2023, following a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court that ruled in favor of Baghdad that Ankara had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014. The suspension halted the export of approximately 400,000 barrels of Kurdish oil daily, along with some 75,000 barrels from Kirkuk.
Hollen said that he would also touch on a range of other issues with his meeting with Barzani, including Syria.
“So I'm interested in talking to him about that, about his views there. And I've also been a big supporter of the SDF, the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria, and they've been doing very important work over many years in fighting ISIS [Islamic State],” he said.
The SDF is the de facto army of Kurdish-held northeast Syria.
After their meeting, the Kurdish presidency described the senator in a statement as “a longtime friend of the Kurds.”
Hollen “praised the role of the Kurdistan Region in maintaining security and stability in the region, stressing the support of Congress and the friends of the people of Kurdistan in America for the Kurdistan Region,” added the statement.
