Kurdistan PM discusses Erbil-Baghdad relations, migrant crisis with Italy’s ambassador to Iraq

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (Right) welcomes Italian Ambassador to Iraq Bruno Antonio Pasquino to his Erbil office, Nov. 28, 2021. (Photo: KRG)
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (Right) welcomes Italian Ambassador to Iraq Bruno Antonio Pasquino to his Erbil office, Nov. 28, 2021. (Photo: KRG)

Erbil (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday welcomed to his Erbil office Italy’s outgoing Ambassador to Iraq Bruno Antonio Pasquino to discuss Erbil and Baghdad negotiations, the migrant crisis playing out on the border of Belarus, and a number of additional “topics of mutual interest,” according to a statement from Barzani’s office.  

Ambassador Pasquino, who was accompanied by Italy’s envoy to Erbil Michele Camerota, thanked Prime Minister Barzani for his government’s cooperation with Italy’s mission in the region and in Iraq.

Barzani thanked the Italian diplomat for his past efforts to develop Italy’s diplomatic and economic relations with both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and “wished him all the best for his next diplomatic assignment.”

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani welcomes Italian Ambassador to Iraq Bruno Antonio Pasquino to his Erbil office, Nov. 28, 2021. (Photo: KRG)
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani welcomes Italian Ambassador to Iraq Bruno Antonio Pasquino to his Erbil office, Nov. 28, 2021. (Photo: KRG)

In early November, Erbil Consul Michele Camerota pledged to Barzani that he would continue to develop and expand his country's relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Read More: Italy expresses interest in expanding cooperation with Kurdistan Region

Two months earlier in September, Italy provided Iraq and the Kurdistan Region with more than 100,000 coronavirus vaccines through the international distribution consortium known as COVAX.

Read More: Italy donates over 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines to Iraq: UNICEF

“Thanks to the Government of Italy for its donation of 100,800 vaccine doses to Iraq through the COVAX facility,” UNICEF representative Sheema SenGupta said at the time.