“Iraq can play a much, much bigger role, geographically at the center of Arab and Muslim countries, but also politically,” Thomas Seiler, the EU Ambassador to Iraq, told Rudaw’s Nwenar Fatih in Baghdad.
“There is a potential that is in this country that should be moved ahead,” he added.
Seiler praised the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani for taking significant strides to combat corruption, money laundering, and other issues plaguing Baghdad’s stability, saying that Brussels feels a “clear commitment” on Sudani’s side to move the conflict-ridden country forward.
“We want to help Iraq build up the capacities, to have structures to attract companies, businesses, and enterprises from the outside,” he said.
Since taking office in October 2022, Sudani has repeatedly labeled the fight against corruption in Iraq as one of his foremost priorities, labeling it as a “pandemic.”
However, Brussels does not seek to interfere in Iraq’s internal affairs, according to Seiler, but only seeks to provide external support and advise the Iraqi government.
“We have understood in many countries in the world that it is not good to go there and to come and say ‘do it exactly like this because we have learned that this is good.’ We are not here to dominate, to dictate, and to impose ourselves,” he stressed.
“The solution must come from the inside, because then it is a sustainable solution and a solution that can endure,” he added.
According to Seiler, the EU’s mandate in Iraq revolves around helping the country stabilize as a “sovereign, stable country with reliability to the citizens,” describing it as “Iraq for the Iraqis.”
“Our mandate here is primarily to help Iraq after all the bad history of the last 20, 30, 40 years, to build up as a stable state for the citizens.”
For that regard, the EU has allocated €411 million for 60 projects in the country, Seiler said. The projects are centered on diversification, private sector development, education, migration, and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
“We want to have a stable Iraq, stable meaning inside the country domestically but also in the region,” he said.
Iraq has also previously played the role of a regional mediator between rivaling powers, and senior Iraqi officials including Sudani and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein have repeatedly emphasized that Baghdad is willing to help regional and international countries resolve lingering tensions.
Iraq previously hosted five rounds of talks between Tehran and Riyadh, aimed at reconciliation, from April 2021 until a Chinese-brokered deal in March of 2023 ultimately sealed the restoration of ties between the countries and led to the eventual return of their diplomatic missions.
Both countries thanked Baghdad for its efforts after the deal to resume diplomatic relations was sealed.
In July, during a presser with his Yemeni counterpart, Hussein said that Baghdad is willing to support any political efforts to end the brutal years-long war in Yemen, with the conflict between Saudi-backed government forces and Houthi rebels described by the UN as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, a conflict that has left hundreds of thousands dead.
In a similar presser in March, Hussein told Ukraine’s top diplomat that Iraq is willing to mediate to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, after calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine two months prior during a press conference with his Russian counterpart.
