German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani Saturday, expressing concerns that a statehood referendum would bring further destabilization, media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)�� Barzani, the president of�the Iraqi Kurdistan Region said earlier this month that it was time to�hold a statehood referendum.

According to�the EFE news agency, Steinmeier told Barzani on�the sidelines of�the Munich Security Conference that the referendum would "only feed new conflicts" in�the region.

The top German diplomat reportedly made it clear that the country had the same attitude towards�any border changes in�Syria and Iraq.

In 2014, Barzani urged the parliament of�the autonomous region to�identify a date for�a referendum on�independence. Barzani called Baghdad's politics a failure that has allowed the Islamic State militant group to�approach Kurdish borders.

Kurds are a Middle Eastern ethnic group with�the population of�some 30-35 million living mainly in�Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
By Sputnik