ERBIL () - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said Saturday that negotiations between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) are continuing as efforts move forward to form a new Kurdistan Regional Government.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said meetings between the two parties remain underway and expressed hope that the negotiations will lead to a positive outcome serving all communities in the Kurdistan Region.
The talks are part of continuing efforts to advance the formation of the new regional government.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani also addressed the Kurdistan Region's financial position as Iraq prepares its federal budget, emphasizing that Baghdad must take the Region's share and financial entitlements into account.
He called for close coordination between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, saying the issue requires serious discussions between the two sides.
Committees from Baghdad and Erbil have already begun negotiations, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said, but he cautioned that technical discussions by themselves would not resolve the issue.
The essential outcome, he said, is for the Kurdistan Region's financial share to be fully secured within the federal budget law.
The budget question has been the subject of recent negotiations between the KRG and federal officials, including discussions concerning the Region's financial entitlements and its proposed share of Iraq's 2027 budget.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani's remarks placed the two issues, the formation of a new regional government and the Kurdistan Region's position in the federal budget, among the principal matters currently requiring political agreement.
On the internal political track, he expressed hope that continued KDP-PUK meetings would produce an agreement benefiting the Kurdistan Region's communities.
On relations with Baghdad, he stressed that negotiations must ultimately translate into concrete protection of the Region's financial entitlements in the federal budget rather than ending with technical discussions alone.
