EU Iraq agreement without the Kurdish Government
Ararat News –Publishing (ANP) –Roni ALASOR – 27 / 5 / 2009 – The new Iraqi Federal Government making strategically agreements with EU without involving the Federal Kurdistan Regional Government. The decisions and agreements from the Arabic dominated central Bagdad regime without Kurdish involvement in the new Federal Iraq provoke the Kurds.
After three days talks, the negotiations between the European Commission and the Government of Iraq will be concluded today with Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). The negotiations are led on the Iraqi side by Mohammed Haj Hammoud, Deputy-Minister of Foreign Affairs and by Hugues Mingarelli, Deputy Director-General for External Relations, for the Commission. The PCA negotiations, launched in November 2006, will lead to the first ever contractual agreement between the EU and Iraq. According the European Commission, the agreements aim is to improve the trade arrangements between Iraq and the EU, to promote investment and to integrate the country in the international economy. Over 900 Million Euros were already contributed by the European Commission to the reconstruction of Iraq since 2003, with a focus on assisting the Iraqi people in accessing basic services, furthering democracy and promoting good governance.
Kurdish Reactions : In a response to the latest PCA talks between EU and the government of Iraq, Burhan Jaf, the Head of Kurdistan Region’s Mission hailed this step. “We think that with the conclusion of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), the EU and Iraq will enter a new area of partnership which will lead to a stronger co-operation between both sides in many areas of common interest.”
Mr. Jaf also talked about the commitment of the Kurdistan Region to creating a strategic EU-Iraq partnership and the important role the KRG has been playing in facilitating and promoting talks between the two sides. “The KRG’s role should not be underestimated as we have been playing a constructive role in facilitating the negotiations even before 2006 when the first round of talks started.”
However, Jaf was less cheerful with the fact that the KRG had not been invited to the recent conclusion talks. As he was quoted “In recent years, the Kurdistan Region has been directly or indirectly involved in many roundtables and meetings which were organised in this regard. It is, therefore, regrettable that the KRG was not invited to the latest talks.” He went on saying ”Considering our consistent contribution to the PCA talks in the past on the one hand and the Kurdistan Region’s position as a regional entity and a commercial gateway for the rest of Iraq on the other hand, we strongly believe that our involvement could have been very much of added-value to the latest PCA talks.”
Another focal point in these talks has been the EU’s commitment to a federal and prosperous Iraq and the financial contribution of 900 Million Euros in that regard.
“While we appreciate the EU’s commitment to rebuilding Iraq, we think that the EU could have been more transparent and cooperative with the Regional Government of Kurdistan as to how they allocate their funds and projects.” Mr. Jaf said
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