Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani visited Munich, Germany, on Friday, to participate in the annual Munich Security Conference.

The President and an accompanying KRG delegation attended the opening ceremony of the Conference and held a number of bilateral meetings, including meeting Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, and Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic, and former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In these meetings, the President shed light on the ongoing efforts by the peshmerga forces to defeat ISIS terrorists and the humanitarian situation of refugees and IDPS who fled to Kurdistan.

On the sidelines of the Conference, the President also took part in a roundtable meeting attended by a number of US and European politicians and officials. In this meeting, President Barzani talked about the fighting against ISIS and the need for more support for the peshmerga forces. He also discussed the plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees and IDPs who have fled to Kurdistan in recent months and years.

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi met in Munich today. Following their meeting which was held on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the two leaders spoke to the media. They both said that they had a positive meeting and that they both agreed to work more closely together.

On the second day of his participation at the Munich Security Conference, President Barzani held meetings with a number of world leaders and officials, including with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Norway’s Foreign Minister Børge Brende, Germany’s Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

Both German Chancellor Merkel and Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen commended the advances made by the peshmerga forces and reiterated that Germany would send further supplies to Kurdistan for the peshmerga.

The President also participated in a panel on the fight against ISIS terrorism and the situation of IDPS in Kurdistan. He thanked the international community for its support for the peshmerga forces but added that more military aid is needed.

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani met with Us Vice President Joe Biden in Munich on Sunday.

They discussed the fight against ISIS terrorists and the progress of the efforts to defeat this terror group. Mr. Biden praised the bravery and sacrifices made by the peshmerga forces in this fight and pledged more US support to Kurdistan.  

President Barzani thanked the US Vice President personally and the US government their continued support for Kurdistan.

On the same day, the President also met some members of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, lead by John McCain, chairman of the committee, to discuss the fight against ISIS and the military requirements of the peshmerga forces.