President Salih: Iraq-EU cooperation to counter-terrorism is important

INA – BAGHDAD
 
President of the Republic, Barham Salih, stressed the need to continue cooperation with the European Union in the war against terrorism, while stressing the importance of cooperation in order to reduce tensions in the region.
 
Salih received on Monday, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in the European Union, Josep Borrell as they discuss joint relations between Iraq and the European Union, the importance of Strengthening and developing it in various fields, and praising the support provided by the European Union to Iraq during the past years and its existing support in the political, security, humanitarian, economic, service and reconstruction projects, according to a statement by the Presidency of the Republic, received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
 
"Iraq is keen to strengthen cooperation relations with the European Union in various fields, and to benefit from the European experience," said Salih noting that "the necessity of cooperation in order to ease the tensions of the region, defuse its crises and establish peace in it, and to support the paths of solution as well as economic and commercial interdependence, in addition to the importance of ensuring the security in the region and stability of Iraq in order to achieve this,”
 
He stressed the importance of cooperation on urgent issues, most notably “continuing the war on terrorism and ensuring that there are no safe havens for it in any region, supporting the development of the Iraqi economy, helping to combat corruption and recovering looted and smuggled Iraqi funds, as well as supporting Iraq in its plans to confront the climate change crisis and protect the environment as a challenge facing the country, the entire region, and the world,”
 
For his part, Borrell affirmed the commitment of the European Union to support and assist Iraq in various fields and to support the security, stability and sovereignty of Iraq.
 
He also praised the progress made in Iraq and its efforts in internal as well as foreign issues related to its adoption of a balanced policy that seeks to ease regional tensions.