ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - France on Tuesday reiterated its support for the security and stability of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, encouraging efforts aimed at resolving outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad through constructive dialogue.

“France's commitment to the stability and security of Iraq, and of the autonomous Kurdistan region within it, is unwavering,” a French diplomatic source revealed to The New Region on Tuesday. “In this context, we follow and encourage efforts aimed at the resumption of a constructive and peaceful dialogue between Baghdad and Erbil.”

The Kurdistan Region and Baghdad have been caught in the midst of several legal and administrative disagreements, with conflicts over Baghdad’s unwillingness to disburse the Region’s civil servant salaries for the rest of 2025, and the federal government’s rejection and suing of the the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over two recent multi-billion-dollar energy deals with American firms to develop certain gas fields in the Region.

Civil servants in the Kurdistan Region have borne the brunt of the long-standing conflict between the Iraqi government and the KRG, as economic sanctions and pressure on Erbil by federal authorities have forced employees in the Region to live from paycheck to paycheck.

The French diplomat said that they encourage “the resolution of disputes, in the interests of federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region,” adding that “this is the message we are sending to all our Iraqi partners.”

France and the Kurdistan Region share long-standing relations, with the French strongly advocating for the establishment of a no-fly zone over the Kurdistan Region in 1991, which ultimately led to the development of the Region’s current autonomy. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani paid an official visit to Paris in April, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee palace.

Paris has also kept amicable relations with Baghdad, as signified by an April visit by Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to the Iraqi capital, where he met with a number of Iraqi officials before visiting Erbil.