Mitic: Support for Kosovo by Iraqi Kurdistan officials does not change Baghdad’s stance

Iraq has in no way, officially or unofficially, indicated any change in its position regarding the respect for Serbia’s territorial integrity. It recognizes that Kosovo and Metohija is an integral part of the Republic of Serbia, and this is something we have been hearing for decades, years, months, and even in recent weeks, Aleksandar Mitic, a research fellow at the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, says to Kosovo Online.

This position of Iraq, he adds, is completely understandable given that Iraq is a country facing serious challenges regarding national unity, and it is in its interest to uphold the United Nations Charter and international law when it comes to the territorial integrity of states.

Regarding the meetings recently held in Iraq by former Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj, where he lobbied for Kosovo’s recognition, Mitic says that it is “a legitimate right of Albanian lobbyists, former ministers, businessmen, to travel the world, to try in various ways to lobby, to bribe, and to try to get as much as possible for their cause.”

He also adds that the meetings Hoxhaj had were at a level that in no way allows for the impression of any change in Iraq’s official position.

“A meeting with a former minister, basically a ‘former with a former’, over drinks after some forum, of which there are hundreds around the world, is not something that signals any kind of policy shift. It is clear, of course, that he will receive support from someone who is an official in Iraqi Kurdistan, considering that the Kurds in Iraq have not only tendencies toward autonomy, which they already enjoy, but also aspirations for something beyond Iraq’s framework. But it is equally clear that this will absolutely not change the position of the authorities in Baghdad. On the contrary. One could even say that this might have been something of an own goal, if the intention was to influence Baghdad,” Mitic says.

He adds that Iraqi Kurdistan is under significant pressure, primarily due to Turkish bombings and constant attacks they endure, and their position is not an easy one.

“We should also understand that the Kurds are a large nation that still does not have its own state, unlike the Albanians, who want to create a second ethnically pure state, and even that may not be enough for them. From that perspective, I understand them, but I don’t believe that at this moment, any leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq can influence the central authorities in Baghdad in any way,” Mitic emphasizes.