Welcome
Reconstruction, reforms and reconciliation
Friendly greeting before their meeting: Foreign Minister Maas and the Speaker of Iraq’s Parliament al-Halbousi., © Felix Zahn/photothek.net
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas assures Mohammed al-Halbousi, Speaker of Iraq’s Parliament, of Germany’s support for reconstruction efforts following the end of the IS reign of terror.
With the meeting, Foreign Minister Maas continues his dialogue with high-level representatives of the Iraqi Government, after his visit to Baghdad in December 2018. The discussion focused on Germany’s support for Iraq. Germany is comprehensively engaged in the country. This includes humanitarian assistance, stabilisation measures, development cooperation and Bundeswehr support with a view to training the Iraqi armed forces.
After the meeting, Maas emphasised the gratitude that is felt for Germany’s consistent engagement:
Our efforts to help stabilise Iraq are held in high regard in the country. We, too, are convinced by the value of our cooperation – bilaterally but also as part of the Global Coalition against Daesh.
The country still faces tremendous challenges, even though the democratic process has made continuous progress since the elections of May 2018.
Reconstruction and reforms
Stabilising and rebuilding areas that have been liberated from IS remains a difficult task for the Iraqi Government. However, living conditions of the local population need to be improved in other parts of the country, too.
The Iraqi Parliament is playing a major role in the political process, launching reconstruction efforts and initiating urgently needed political reforms. For only if living conditions can be significantly enhanced can a resurgence of IS be prevented.
Reconciliation
The discussion also highlighted that improving living conditions can contribute to reconciliation in Iraq. For this, judicial scrutiny of the crimes committed by IS is required. So far, this has occurred in national Iraqi courts and in third countries – including in Germany. In connection with its seat on the Security Council, Germany supports the work of the United Nations Investigative Team (UNITAD) and other NGOs that document and collect evidence of these crimes in Iraq.