Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visits  Iraq

Dimensions and semantics

Dr. Khudair Abbas Al , Dahlaki

The visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni  and the leader of the  far-right Fratelli d'Italia party,  on 23/12/2022, comes after a year in  which Iraq witnessed important political changes after an institutional crisis that lasted nearly a year, which ended with the naming of the three presidencies, the visit revolves around two main objectives, the first is to convey the government's greetings to the Italian soldiers stationed in Iraq, and the  second goal is to initiate the re- Revitalizing and developing relations between Iraq  and Italy in various fields.

1-   Meetings and meetings during the visit

A-    The  two parties held official talks on cooperation between Italy and Iraq in the sectors of agriculture, health, energy and increasing economic and trade exchanges    ."The Iraqi government's designation of December 25 as an official holiday is a sign of respect for the Christian community." The Sudanese Prime Minister  expressed his appreciation for the Italian role within the international coalition to combat  the terrorist organization Daesh, stressing Iraq's aspiration to activate the paths of partnership and investment with Italy and all European Union countries, and expressed his hope that "more specialized and advanced companies will work in the fields of infrastructure and gas investment in Iraq.  He stressed Iraq's keenness to provideItaly with the oil and gas it needs.

B- Mrs. Giorgia Meloni held many meetings and meetings, as she was received by  the President  of the Republic of Sayyid (Abdul Latif R. Shey D), who stressed the importance ofthe existing relations between Iraq and Italy, andthat Italy is an important partner for Iraq in many strategic files.  The  Italian Prime Minister held a meeting with the Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives (Dr. Muhammad  Al-Halbousi).  She met with the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, Cardinal  Louis-Raphael Sako, at the Patriarchate's headquarters.

C- After the end of her visit to Baghdad, Mrs. Meloni went to Erbil, where she was received by the Prime Minister of  the Kurdistan   Region (Masrour Barzani) and held official talks with him, and met with the President of the  Region  (Nechirvan Barzani), and  visited the base (Camp Singara) military where she met with the commander of the Italian battalion, Colonel  (Daniele Pisani).) and had  lunch with Italian soldiers. And the visit of the Italian battalion participating in the mission "Inherent Resolve / Prima Bartheca", which was launched in 2014. The Italian military contingent is located at the Union 3 military base, where the command of the NATO Mission in Iraq (NMI) and the Global Coalition against  Daesh  are stationed.

2-  The aspects of the relationship between Iraq and Italy are many and varied,  and despite the age of this relationship, at the present time it is concentrated in two main aspects:

A-    On the military and security side , Italy carries out two very important tasks:

-     Participation in the international mission (Prima Partica), which was launched in October  2014 with the participation of 79 countries and five international organizations  to support and assist the Iraqi armed forces in confronting the terrorist organization Daesh

-     Provide support and support for the development andtraining of the Iraqi armed forces and police, as   well as the Kurdish security forces.  Italy's role in Iraq culminated   in its assumption of command of the  NATO Mission in Iraq (NMI) led by General Giovanni Maria Ianucci last May,  whichsupports the training capabilities of Iraqi forces in a wide range of sectors: counter-IEDs, mine clearance, civil and military planning, military medicine, and  Support relevant ministries in Iraq in developing a sustainable military structure through civil-military cooperation; undertake important counterterrorism work by supporting the development of national security capabilities and thus prevent the resurgence  of the terrorist organization Daesh.  

B-  Economic and commercial aspect

According to   data published on the  Italian government's infomercatiesteri platform, 16 important Italian companies currently operate in Iraq, especially in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Italian exports in 2021 amounted to 656 million euros, an increase of 22.9% compared to 2020 (the year of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic)  and higher than the figure for 2019.  Equivalent to 549.16 million euros, while imports amounted to 3.359 billion euros (+51% compared to  2020), most of which are prices for Iraqi oil. Between January and September 2022, the Italian oil to Iraq exceeded  526 million euros, an increase of 13%  over the same period last year, while oil imports  from Iraq amounted to  3.970 billion euros, an increase of 74.9%  annually.

c. Italian presence in the energy sector.

Eni has been present in Iraq since 2009,  working through its subsidiary (Eni Iraq BV), in the development of the Zubair field development project, and in February 2022 Eni launched a project with the Governorate of Basra, the European Union and UNICEF to provide the population with drinking water by 2024 and encourage the creation of sustainable job opportunities for young people. In particular in the field of health care and education. The company confirms via   Part of its program "includes the use of associated gas for electricity generation." The flammable gas captured and processed could help address Iraq's chronic energy shortages.   San Donato Milanese is also active in social projects, particularly in health care and education.

3-  Although Mrs. Giorgia Meloni announced during her meeting with the deputies of her party (Brotherin Italy) that she will visit Iraq, for the purpose of meeting with Italiansoldiers participating in peacekeeping missions on the occasion of Christmas,  the visit has multiple and varied dimensions and connotations,which can be summarized asfollows:

A-    At the forefront of the political connotations is the symbolic political dimension of the far-right ideology of Mrs. Giorgia Meloni and her political discourse on the priority of a strong Italy and concern for the family and Catholic Christian identity, and this is confirmed by the timing of the visit during Christmas, her   visit to Italian soldiers stationed in Iraq, and her meeting with Patriarch Louis Raphael Saco.

B- Emphasizing the leadership personality possessed by Georgia Meloni, and that despite the presence of partners in the coalition that makes up the Italian government and includes in addition to her party both the right-wing populist Northern League  party (Matteo Sallivini) and the  Froza Italia party led by veteran politician (Silvio Berlusconi), as Meloni seeks to own the initiative and theItaly is determined to revitalize its political and diplomatic role in the Middle East

C- The economic dimension is a top priority for the Prime Minister of the Italian government, especially as Italy is going through a state of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, and iscurrently suffering from  the repercussions of the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Italy seeks to secure energy imports of oil and gas in a way that secures it to secure the continuation of energy supplies at reasonable prices, and Iraq is one of the preferred alternatives to Russian gas, and on the other hand, Georgia Meloni seeks to obtain contracts for Italian companies to invest, especially in the oil and gas sector. Within the framework of the competition between the Italian company (Eni and the French Total), and avoid the scenario of the  Italian-French competition for influence and oil interests  in Libya  , which reached its peak in 2018-2019 when the two parties exchanged accusations about their policies in Libya. He has previously  accused the Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior in the previous Italian government and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure in the Meloni   government.Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right Northern League party, said France was "robbing Africa's wealth" and that it had "no interest in Libya's stability, because it has oil interests that contradict those of Italy."

Relations between Italy and France have already been unprecedentedly strained under the previous Italian government when French President Emmanuel Macron called  it a "leprosy" that "has spread again in Europe and in countries that we thought would be impossible to see again," referring to populist parties in the government, including the Northern League party, a coalition member led by Georgia Meloni.

E- As for Iraq and the Iraqi government, the visit will have positive returns on several rises, at the political level,  it is a visit by the head of government of an important European country that gives a strong impetus to the Prime Minister in the political and diplomatic move to move forward in the  development  of Iraq's foreign relations with influential  countries in the international political scene, especially the European Union countries, but on the economic level, he gave way to Italian companies in the field of energy  and Oil, gas and electricity would help Iraq overcome the crises it suffers from in the field of energy and the oil and gas industry, and in the military and security field, the continuation of the Italian role within the forces of the NATO mission provides an opportunity to benefit from its expertise in the field of training and development of military capabilities, as well as the case for the rest of the sectors, including agricultural,  commercial, cultural and tourism, and it is known that Italy has great experience and expertise in the field of combating mafia networks and corruption that were apparent and  It has been with the political scene in Italy for decades, and it is possible to benefit from that experience and expertise, and the matter remains dependent on the seriousness of the two parties in implementing and following up on the agreements, and this requires activating the Iraqi-Italian Joint Committee and continuing to hold periodic meetings at the ministerial level.