Meeting of the Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq,H.E Mrs. Lina Omar, with the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria

The Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq, H.E. Mrs. Lina Omar, met on the 30th of May with the Minister of the Interior at the Ministry of the Interior headquarters in Sofia. During the meeting, the strengthening of cooperation in the field of security and increasing the level of joint relations in various fields were discussed, among which the issue of illegal migration and the mechanisms for dealing with this problem in accordance with the current legislation were highlighted. During the conversation, the Ambassador expressed the embassy’s readiness to put efforts into facilitating the procedures for dealing with this issue, conveying the desire of the Iraqi government to sign a memorandum of understanding in this regard with the Bulgarian side. In another aspect of the dialogue, the ambassador praised Bulgaria’s efforts to train Iraqi police staff in 2015 and 2016, confirming Iraq’s desire to continue this cooperation in the future, referring to Bulgaria’s rich experience in the field of security training. For his part, the Minister of the Interior confirmed his country’s desire to develop security cooperation with Iraq, especially regarding the issue of illegal migration, as well as the issue of providing training courses for employees of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. Ways to overcome obstacles to the issuance of entry visas to Iraqi citizens were also discussed.