Beirut, Lebanon – French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in Lebanon on a visit to pressure Beirut to implement backward reforms and dissociate itself from regional conflicts, both seen as key to unlocking international aid.
Le Drian’s two-day visit comes as Lebanon spirals into its worst economic crisis, leading to massive poverty and rising hunger. On Thursday, he will meet with Lebanese leaders, including President Michel Aoun, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nabih Berri, and Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
In May, the Diab government began talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $ 10 billion program. It is seeking additional $ 11 billion in aid from the international community over the next five years to avoid the effects of the crisis.
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1990 – End of the ruinous civil war in Lebanon; military and business class commanders enter politics 2001 – Amid worsening economic prospects, France organizes the Paris 1 conference; $ 500 million committed 2002 – The Paris 2 conference brings together more than 20 states; $ 4 billion committed 2005 – Former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri killed in a car bomb attack; Syrian forces leave Lebanon, ending 30 years of presence 2006 – The 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel leaves 1,200 Lebanese dead and causes widespread destruction valued at $ 2.8 billion 2006 – The Stockholm conference brings together 50 nations and the UN for the post-war recovery of Lebanon; over $ 1 billion promised. 2007 – The Paris 3 donor conference brings together 36 nations; $ 7.6 billion committed for economic aid and development projects 2018: the CEDRE donor conference (Paris 4) brings together 50 countries and organizations; $ 11 billion committed for infrastructure and development projects 2019 – Mass protests force government collapse; deep economic crisis takes hold 2020 – The government does not pay the debt payments, begins negotiations for the IMF package and calls for foreign aid |
In addition to Lebanon’s problems, the country has become increasingly isolated from traditional allies, including the Arab Gulf nations that are concerned about the growing influence of Hezbollah backed by Iran, which supports the Diab government, and Western donors. who have said they are ready to help first. I want to see reform.
France has long acted as Lebanon’s gateway to the international community, organizing four donor conferences in Paris in the past two decades that brought together dozens of nations and international financial institutions.
Pledges at those conferences total nearly $ 24 billion, of which $ 11 billion was pledged at the CEDRE conference two years ago.
Lebanon has been a special case for France as the latest foothold of its colonial past in the Middle East, and many in Lebanon see France as the country’s “compassionate mother”.
But even France’s rhetoric has begun to change. “Help us so we can help you, damn it!” Le Drian exclaimed during a discussion on Lebanon during a session of the French parliament earlier this month.
“The French are ashamed, they don’t know what to do,” said Sibylle Rizk, director of public policy for the local pressure group Kulluna Irada.
“They are the ones who have tried the most to help Lebanon, each international conference has been organized in Paris and they are the most active defenders of Lebanon.”
The generous help that Lebanon has received in the past has always been accompanied by promises from successive governments to implement deep reforms and improve income-generating measures.
These included the privatization of the telecommunications and electricity sectors, tax increases, cuts to subsidies, debt reduction and modernization of the country’s old legal framework, much of which dates back to France’s occupation of the country since 1920 until 1943.
But little has been done in the past two decades. Lebanon’s public debt increased from around 25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2001, when the first Paris conference was held, to around 150 percent of GDP when CEDRE was held in 2018.
“Today, the international community is horrified,” said Rizk.
“Lebanon is really one of the few countries in the world where you have so much inertia, so much ineptitude to implement any measure that is intended to save something,” he said.
Critics have said that donor conferences actually prolonged the life of Lebanon’s corrupt and deeply entrenched political class.
CEDRE, for example, took place just two weeks before Lebanon’s first parliamentary elections in nine years, in 2018. The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections said the timing constituted electoral interference.
“Our message to the international community is clear: do not feed the system that led us to this unprecedented crisis, do not help them revive, insist on aid conditionality,” said Rizk.
“We are against any rescue that would come at the expense of the Lebanese and would save or protect the remnants of a failed system,” he said.
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