EU Ambassador and the head of the European Union delegation to Iraq, Jana Hybaskova, stated Wednesday that the EU would open a representative office in Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government.

EU Ambassador and the head of the European Union delegation to Iraq, Jana Hybaskova, stated Wednesday that the EU would open a representative office in Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government.

Hybaskova made remarks during a visit she paid to Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government President Masoud Barzani. The two discussed developments in the Middle East, the political and military situation in Iraq, as well as the struggle against the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group, according to a statement posted on the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government’s website.

"The new representative office is part of the EU’s goal of improving relations with the Kurdish region," Hybaskova was quoted in the statement as saying.

She said the Iraqi government, neighboring countries and the international community needed to seriously focus on the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, after around 25,000 people were forced to leave their homes following ISIL’s conquest of the area.

Barzani also met with the UK’s Ambassador to Baghdad Frank Baker and they discussed political and military developments in the fight against ISIL.