Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani received by Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, at his office in The Hague.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his accompanied delegation visited the Netherlands on Tuesday, 10 July 2018, at an official invitation, and were received by Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, at his office in The Hague.

During a meeting, the Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region highlighted the relations between Kurdistan Region and Netherlands, and the Dutch aid to the people of Kurdistan since the mid-1970s of the past century, by receiving refugees from Kurdistan, down to its aid to the coalition forces in the war against ISIS both Military and humanitarian, and the highly important recent visit of the Dutch Minister of Trade and Development to the Kurdistan Region. He expressed his thanks to PM Rutte for the Minister’s visit, which came at a very difficult period in which Kurdistan region was going through, and which was a moral support to the people and Government of Kurdistan Region.

The PM of Kurdistan Region expressed the willingness of the Regional Government to cooperate with the Government of the Netherlands, in the hope that the Kurdistan region will be able to benefit from his country's experience in various fields, particularly in the areas of agriculture and irrigation.

Thereafter, the Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region gave an overview of the Iraqi political situation, the formation of the new Government and the importance of the participation and role of Kurdistan parties in the Iraqi Government and Parliament. While he shed light on current developments in Erbil Baghdad relations, he also expressed the willingness of Kurdistan Regional Government to resolve problems through dialogue and in accordance with the Constitution and to develop them further. To prevent the resurgence of the threat of ISIS in the region, he underlined the need for coordination between the Peshmerga Forces, the Iraqi army and the allies.