(ANSAmed) – PARIS, OCTOBER 24 – French President Emmanuel Macron, opening the international conference in support of the population and sovereignty of Lebanon in Paris, announced aid of 100 million euros for the Country of the Cedars. Returning to call for a ceasefire ”as soon as possible”, Macron guaranteed that France will remain at Lebanon’s side, “both in the emergency” and in the reconstruction of a “free, sovereign, capable of making the national interest on the divisions that are consuming it”. It is “necessary that other people’s war is not imported into Lebanon”, warns Macron, expressing the “will that Lebanon emerges stronger from the trials it is going through today”.
During his opening speech at the conference, Macron warned that the war between Israel and Hezbollah ”must end as soon as possible”. We must ”demonstrate that the worst is never written and we must allow the Lebanese to regain control of their destiny”.
The objective of the conference along the banks of the Seine is to raise around 500 million euros to help the displaced Lebanese.
”Lebanon appeals to the international community to be united and support the efforts to put an end to the ongoing aggressions and implement an immediate ceasefire”: said the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, speaking at the conference. ”Resolution 1701 of the UN Security Council, as currently written, remains the cornerstone of stability and security in southern Lebanon”, continued the Prime Minister of Beirut, adding that ”the complete and immediate implementation of this resolution by Lebanon and Israel will protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon and ensure security at our southern border that can allow displaced communities to return to their regions.”
On the occasion of the international conference on Lebanon underway in Paris, the German government committed “to provide a total of 96 million euros in additional financing to address the crisis in the country”.
“The objective is to reach internally displaced people and ensure the social, economic and institutional stability of Lebanon,” the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economic Cooperation wrote in a joint press release.
