MUNICH, Germany — German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen urged support for continued dialogue between the Kurdish regional and Iraqi central governments, noting "consensus is often the best way to move forward in the future." After the Kirkuk fallout, Baghdad and Erbil have been locked in a budget stalemate, as well as disagreements about federal control of points of entry, and payment of KRG salaries. "In my visit to Baghdad when I spoke to Prime Minister [Haider al-] Abadi, I was very happy to hear that there is a dialogue going on between Baghdad and Erbil ... of course it's not our topic to get mixed in," Leyen told Rudaw correspondent Alla Shally after the minister met with KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani. Abadi and Barzani have met twice this year with a third meeting expected. "It's very good to hear that Kurdistan is willing and ready to go into a dialogue which does already exist again," said Leyen. Abadi has accused Kurdish MPs of having a secret agreement with Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, a Sunni politician. "It's very important to stay in touch and to stay in a dialogue because there is no problem that cannot be solved between Erbil and Baghdad — of course there are different positions but the more you go into detail, I think solutions are being found," said Leyen. Germany's new coalition government is yet to decide on support moving forward for the Peshmerga, as Abadi declared ISIS defeated in December. "We are working on a new mandate for the new requirements I was just pointing out under the umbrella of the General Reliable Partnership of the Coalition against Terror... how the details will be, we do not know," said Leyen. "We've made very good experiences with Kurdistan and the Peshmerga and we want to proceed," she added. The KRG prime minister reciprocated Berlin's support. "He thanked the German role in assisting the Peshmerga and the Kurdistan Region during the fight against ISIS. He also thanked the German defense minister in help rebuilding the Peshmerga hospital in Erbil," read a statement from the KRG's office. "Both sides stressed the need for continued support for the Kurdistan Region," it added.
