President Barzani welcomes Italian Consul in Erbil

ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan (K24) – On Monday, the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Masoud Barzani, welcomed the newly appointed Italian Consul General in Erbil, Alessandra Di Pippo.

A statement on the Kurdistan Region's presidency website said that Barzani discussed the bilateral relations between the Kurdistan Region and Italy with the Consul General Di Pippo and a diplomatic delegation accompanying her. The meeting took place in the town of Pirmam, some 30 kilometers north of Erbil.

The statement also read that President Barzani conveyed his gratitude to the Italian government and people for their support to the Kurdistan Region in the war against the Islamic State (IS) group.

The Consul General Di Pippo, on her part, stated that her country and "the European community in general highly appreciate[d] the role of the Kurdistan Region insofar as the provision of care to the refugees and IDPs is concerned," the statement read.

On December 23, 2015, Italy's consulate general in Erbil was officially opened in a ceremony attended by the President of the Italian Senate Pietro Grasso, and the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani.

Italy is the 22nd UN-recognised state that has diplomatic representation at the consular level in the Kurdistan Region, according to data shown on the website of the Kurdistan Region's Department of Foreign Relations (DFR).

A member of the U.S.-led International Anti-IS Coalition, Italy has about 750 soldiers on a training mission in Iraq and Kurdistan. It also plans to send 450 more in support of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, said Prime Minister Matteo Renzi last month.

Meanwhile, the Kurdish Minister of Foreign Relations, Falah Mustafa met with the Vice President of the European Parliament Ryszard Czarnecki on Monday in Erbil. According to a press release on the DFR website, the two officials discussed EU-Kurdistan relations, the war against IS, and the refugee crisis.