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The US State Department called on “Lebanese leaders to put aside their differences and accelerate the formation of the government.” The ministry said that “US officials are concerned about the evolution of the situation in Lebanon and the inability of the leaders to do so.”
This American call comes Monday night, after a formula for forming a government was not reached during the meeting that brought together President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, and ended with a stormy public debate.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also said this afternoon that “the European Union cannot sit idly by and Lebanon is collapsing,” expressing frustration at failed efforts to form a government.
He said upon arrival at a meeting of European Union Foreign Ministers: “We ask the European Union to discuss the situation in Lebanon today, and reforms must be implemented,” according to the “Reuters” agency. Le Drian added: “France wants to discuss the issue of Lebanon. The country is moving away and divided. When a country collapses, Europe must be prepared.
The French minister asked his counterparts in the European Union to consider ways to help Lebanon, which is facing the worst economic crisis in decades, and expressed frustration at the failure of efforts to form a new Lebanese government so far.
Paris had led international efforts to save Lebanon from its biggest crisis since the civil war, but so far, despite the passage of seven months, it has failed to persuade political parties to adopt a roadmap for reform or the formation of a new one. government so that international aid can be disbursed.
French and Western diplomats have said that France is ready now, after months of stalemate, to discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions on Lebanese officials, either at the European Union level or at the French level, but this is unlikely to happen in any event. righ now.
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