In his meetings  - with his Iraqi counterpart, Mr. Haydar al-Abadi, as well as Mr. Fouad Ma’sum, President of the Republic of Iraq, Mr. Salim al-Jibburi, Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, and Mr. Ibrahim al-Ja’fari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq – the Czech Prime Minister explored the Iraqi government’s vision of the reconstruction process and ways in which the Czech Republic could contribute to this process.

Further expansion of Czech-Iraqi defense and security cooperation – already strong under the current framework of the Global Coalition against Daesh – was discussed, as well ways to encourage trade in such traditional areas of mutual cooperation as agricultural industry, water management, and transportation.

The Czech government’s humanitarian aid to Iraq during the recent crisis has amounted to 4 million USD, which will rise to a total of 7 million USD with this year’s contributions. Mr. Sobotka expressed his deep appreciation of the efforts and sacrifices of the Iraqi armed forces and citizens in the successful liberation campaign against Daesh, and stressed that support for Iraq will remain an important priority of Czech foreign and security policy.

In a brief stop-over, Mr. Sobotka toured the halls of the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad, with their unique historical treasures spanning six millenia. On his return flight from Baghdad, he paid a visit to the Balad Air Base in Salahuddin Province, where he held a meeting with the Iraqi Air Force Commander, Gen. Anwar Abed Amin, and inspected the worksite of the Czech Air Force Advisory Team, training Iraqi pilots of Czech-produced L-159 light fighter airplanes.