KRG leadership is ‘key partner’ for the EU: Official

The two discussed the stranded migrants on the Poland-Belarus border, including how to disrupt the smuggling networks bringing them there
Margaritis Schinas, the Vice-President of the European Commission. (Photo: Aris Oikonomou/AFP)
Margaritis Schinas, the Vice-President of the European Commission. (Photo: Aris Oikonomou/AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s leadership is a “key partner” for the European Union, said Margaritis Schinas, the Vice-President of the European Commission, on Wednesday.

Schinas had a phone call with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday. The two discussed the stranded migrants on the Poland-Belarus border, including how to disrupt the smuggling networks bringing them there, according to a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) statement.

Read More: PM Barzani calls on Europe to provide urgent aid to migrants stranded on its borders

“KRG leadership and the government of Iraq [are] key partners for the EU,” Schinas tweeted following his call with Barzani.

In the phone call, Barzani also urged the European official to deliver aid to the stranded migrants. 

At least 400 migrants recently returned to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region on a government-sponsored repatriation flight.