The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, met with French President Emmanuel Macron, on Saturday, on the sidelines of his participation in the Baghdad Summit.
The French president said he “should not be complacent” in the face of “jihadists”, stressing that “the Islamic State organization still poses a threat.”
He stressed that stability in Iraq is achieved through free and fair elections, and pointed out that the region and its peoples have suffered from many dangers.
“Today’s conference is historic,” Macron said, adding: “A year ago I was here and we talked about today’s conference.” He stated that France is committed to the alliance with Iraq, and announced that it had allocated a budget to the areas liberated from ISIS to develop them into a suitable environment for the return of the displaced.
On Saturday, Iraq will host a conference on “cooperation and partnership”, the most prominent of which is French President Emmanuel Macron, and includes a number of regional countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, and is expected to be overshadowed by developments in Afghanistan .
The French Press Agency quoted “sources from around the prime minister” as confirming that the summit aims to give Iraq a “constructive and inclusive role to address the crises afflicting the region.” But Iraq itself suffers from crises related to the policies of those countries in Iraq.
Through the conference, Iraq hopes to obtain support to restore security and economic stability and enhance its regional role.
For his part, Al-Kadhimi said: “We thank and appreciate the French President Emmanuel Macron for his visit, and we welcome him to Baghdad for the second time this year, and we highly appreciate the French efforts in support of Iraq, and this position is appreciated by the Iraqi people.”
He added: “We appreciate the efforts made by President Macron to coordinate and participate in the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership that will be held today, and we also thank all the leaders who came to Iraq to participate in this conference to support the Iraqi people and support Iraq’s efforts to achieve sustainable development and consolidate stability, which will reflect positively on the Iraqi people.” Security, peace, and calm in our region and the world.”
The Iraqi Prime Minister continued at the press conference with Macron: “The joint bilateral action between Iraq and France is based on a sustainable strategic economic partnership, and there are important economic projects between the two countries that we seek to overcome all obstacles to launch, especially in the areas of infrastructure and energy.”
He stressed that Iraq and France are key partners in the fight against terrorism, and said: “We value the French role in supporting Iraq in the areas of combating terrorism, either directly or through France’s presence within the coalition of countries, and we aspire to greater cooperation in the intelligence and security fields.”
Al-Kadhimi explained: “We see great prospects for the relationship between the two countries, and we seek to develop them and to benefit from French expertise in oil, electricity, transportation, industries, military, and other projects. on earth to serve our people.
He pointed out that Iraq has a serious desire to deepen cultural relations with France, and seeks to expand in this field and benefit from bilateral experiences and expand the field of exchange between the two countries.
He said: “President Emmanuel Macron is a dear friend of Iraq, and he is always welcome, and we appreciate his respect for the privacy of the relationship between our two countries, and we believe that this visit will have positive results and a push forward in all cooperation tracks between Iraq and France.”
