Swiss hope for progress at Iraq conference

Iraqis elected a transitional government in January Keystone

Switzerland will be one of more than 80 nations at a conference in Brussels on Wednesday at which the new Iraqi government will present its main challenges.

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey is hoping the conference will give a fresh impetus to the democratisation and stabilisation of Iraq.

The aim of the conference, co-hosted by the European Union and the United States, is to provide a forum for Iraq’s new transitional government.

The 30-man Iraqi delegation, headed by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, will present its priorities, vision and strategies for the transition period leading up to the next round of elections towards the end of the year.

Delegates will respond by presenting their views on the future of Iraq regarding the country’s progress towards good governance, its reform agenda and inclusiveness in the political process.

The conference will be structured around three items outlined in the UN Security Council Resolution 1546 from June 8, 2004: political process; economic challenges and reconstruction; public order and rule of law.

Diplomats from Iraq, the EU and the US said it was not a security or donor conference, but an American diplomat admitted that security questions would naturally be addressed, given the ongoing problems in Iraq.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

For security reasons, Switzerland does not currently have an office of cooperation in Iraq.
Switzerland supports international aid programmes on a multilateral level, especially the UN.
In 2004 Switzerland committed SFr1.7 million ($1.35 million), this year SFr2 million.
Of that, SFr500,000 is reserved for the UN Refugee Agency.

In brief

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey will attend the conference in Brussels on the future of Iraq.

She will then travel to Ukraine on June 23-24 for the regional conference of Swiss ambassadors.

Calmy-Rey is due to meet her Ukrainian counterpart Boris Tarasyuk.