Masrour Barzani to attend Munich Security Council
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The head of the Kurdistan Region’s security and intelligence branch will attend the Munich Security Conference, happening this week.
Masrour Barzani is heading a delegation that includes Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesperson Safeen Dizayee and KRG’s representative to Germany Dilshad Barzani.
In Munich, he is expected to meet “senior government and security officials,” according to a statement from his office.
The annual conference attracts world leaders and security chiefs. The meeting this year is happening during a restructuring of the world order, especially in terms of the relationships between the power houses of the United States, Russia, and China, “accompanied by a certain leadership vacuum in what has become known as the liberal international order,” said conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger.
An unprecedented number of power players are expected to attend, according to organizers, including the leaders of Germany, Afghanistan, and Egypt, delegations from the US and Europe, and defence and foreign ministers from around the globe.
Kurds are worried about another possible vacuum – a security one that could potentially be created when the United States withdraws its forces from northern Syria. Not only does this risk compromising the war against ISIS, but it also leaves Kurds in Rojava exposed to a Turkish offensive.
Barzani has already raised his concerns about this issue with US officials in Erbil and may take the opportunity to highlight the situation when among the world’s security leaders.
The three-day conference opens on Friday.
Iraq’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim will also attend. While the focus in Iraq has turned to reconstruction and cracking down on corruption, ISIS still remains a serious security threat with potentially thousands of fighters loyal to the extremist group’s ideology.
The country is no longer on the agenda for the international community, however. A diplomat at the United Nations Security Council told Rudaw on Wednesday that, after the military defeat of ISIS, “Iraq is not a priority now.”