MOFA: Iraq looks forward to EU support in elections monitoring

 
INA – Baghdad
 
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein affirmed Iraq's aspiration to support the European Union in observing early elections.
 
Hussein met the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sigrid Kaag in Luxembourg, on the sidelines of his participation in the Foreign Affairs Council meeting of the foreign ministers of the European Union countries, included a statement by the media office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
 
They discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries, in the interest of the two friendly peoples.
 
Hussein affirmed “Iraq's keenness to hold the elections on their scheduled date and his aspiration in the member states of the European Union to support monitoring the upcoming elections to ensure the achievement of free and fair elections,”
 
During the meeting, the two stressed the need for cooperation and coordination in the field of human rights through the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

They noted that “the Iraqi government's commitment to human rights standards and its endeavor to cooperate with the international community in this field where they made talks in the regard of raising the name of Iraq as it is on the European Commission’s list of countries with a high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing, as the minister promised to study the file, follow it up and coordinate with the European Union countries in this regard.
 
For her part, Kaag expressed "her country's support for Iraq's efforts to achieve security and stability," stressing "the ongoing cooperation between the two countries, and work to support the Iraqi government in sending observers to monitor the progress of the electoral process,"
 
At the end of the meeting, the minister invited the Dutch minister to visit Iraq to follow up on bilateral files and joint cooperation.