German foreign minister to visit Iraq, Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock is set to visit Iraq and Kurdistan Region on Tuesday, almost two weeks after the visit of another senior diplomat of the European country to Erbil and Baghdad, the Iraqi ministry of foreign affairs said.

The German diplomat will arrive on Tuesday in Baghdad, where he will meet with Prime Minister Mohammad Shia’ Al-Sudani, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, the spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday.

Baerbock is also set to meet with her Iraqi counterpart and deputy prime minister, Fuad Hussein, during the visit.

The officials are set to hold “extensive discussions” on the bilateral relations between Baghdad and Berlin, investment, and energy, according to the spokesperson.

She will visit the Kurdistan Region and meet with the Kurdish region’s top officials as part of the visit, an informed source confirmed to Kurdistan 24 on Monday.

The minister’s visit comes almost two weeks after Germany’s Minister of State Tobias Lindner's trip to both Baghdad and Erbil, where he discussed the bilateral relations with the country’s officials.

Al-Sudani visited Berlin in mid-January with his German counterpart and other top officials. He signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany’s giant power giant, Siemens Energy, to develop the country’s dilapidated electricity sector.

Berlin, as part of the international coalition against ISIS, has assisted both Erbil and Baghdad in defeating the terror group which had controlled a third of the country.