France, new key player in Iraq
The new Iraqi prime minister, Mustafa al-Kazemi, is due to begin a European tour in mid-October, with an official visit to Paris. The Iraqi foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, stated that this visit was part of "a French desire to strengthen relations with Iraq, accompanied by Iraq's desire to strengthen relations with France".
With this trip, the Al-Kazemi administration intends to request the purchase of French weapons to cover the needs of the Iraqi army, according to Hussein's statements.
On 18 September the French minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, received his Iraqi counterpart, and the French minister stressed his country's determination to continue in the fight against Daesh; he also expressed the Elysée Palace's wish to strengthen cooperation with Iraq in all areas (political, security, economic, humanitarian, educational and cultural).
"There are economic projects that have been advanced and have obtained initial approval, and French companies are therefore implementing these projects to help Iraq, and they are projects that deal with infrastructure, services and others that deal with energy and the oil sector, in addition to discussing military and security issues," the Iraqi foreign minister said.
On 2 September the French president, Emmanuel Macron, visited Baghdad on an official trip where he promised economic, military and political support. During this visit the French president announced a large number of aid and support packages to back the besieged Iraqi government, while the United States continues to reduce its presence in Iraq after 17 years since the invasion.
The Iraqi government wrote on its official Twitter account upon Macron's arrival in the country that "France is a comrade and friend of Iraq who has supported the Iraqi armed forces in the war against Daesh".
France, which has been very much involved in the development of Lebanese politics since the explosion in the port of Beirut on 4 August, now also looks to Baghdad and its uncertain political scenario. Macron became the first foreign head of state to visit the country since Al-Kazemi took over as prime minister in May.
"Iraq must assert its sovereignty", despite being in the midst of a conflict between the United States and Iran. "Iraq has been going through a challenging period for several years, with war and terrorism," the French leader said from the Iraqi capital. He also pointed out that the country is still struggling to revive its economy, improve its education system and bring "military elements and militias" under state control.
In recent months Iraq has been the scene of several indiscriminate attacks and murders of activists, researchers and civilians, almost a year after the start of the mass protests in October last year, which met with a violent response. The United Nations expressed its concern at the lack of investigations into the abuses committed during the protests against the Iraqi government, in which over 450 people died.
Before leaving the country in the Middle East, Macron said that "these challenges are taking place in an extraordinarily tense regional context, with strong Iranian influence and repeated incursions by Turkey, which is intervening increasingly in Iraqi internal affairs".
France has provided political, diplomatic, military and humanitarian support to the Iraqi authorities in implementing a policy of national reconciliation and in the fight against Daesh, who have been regaining their presence in recent months. According to the official website of French diplomacy, France is contributing three million euros to the Immediate Stabilisation Fund of the United Nations Development Programme for Iraq and there have been several official visits by the French authorities to Iraqi territory.