The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, said Friday during her visit to Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, that stability «is not possible in the Middle East without a strong Iraq» and stressed that it is a «friendly» country for Italy.
The president, who met with her Iraqi counterpart, Mohamed Shia al Sudani, and the country’s president, Abdulatif Rashid, visited the Italian contingent deployed in the country and also held a meeting with the ambassador, Maurizio Greganti.
«I am delighted to be here today in Iraq on what represents my first mission outside Europe. Iraq has shown once again that it believes in democracy by recently forming a new government,» she said on the sidelines of her meeting with Al Sudani.
He pointed out that this is a nation «that has taken important steps in terms of security and political stability». «From our point of view, we can look at it with optimism,» he said, before stressing that Italy has been on the front line «supporting Iraq,» according to information from the Adnkronos agency.
«We also do so in the framework of the coalition to fight Islamic State, because there can be no stability and prosperity in the region without a strong Iraq, and Italy has always been on the side of the Iraqi renaissance,» he said before affirming that the parties should work to strengthen the bilateral relationship in 2023.
Meloni underlined the Iraqi government’s decision to «establish December 25 as a national holiday, so that those who wish to do so can celebrate Christmas.» «I consider it an important symbol of the great respect for religious freedom and I thank the prime minister for it.»
He also thanked the Italian contingent deployed in the area and stressed that «they sacrifice for the rest.» «I want to send a message to the soldiers who are part of peacekeeping missions,» he said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
