French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with Premier Najib Mikati during a meeting at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. (Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday held meetings with an array of foreign leaders on the sidelines of the COP26 UN conference on climate change, which is being held this week in Glasgow, Scotland. Mikati seized the opportunity to have one-on-one talks with French President Emmanuel Macron among others against a backdrop of Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis and a spiraling diplomatic rift between the country and Saudi Arabia that has pulled in other Gulf monarchies.
Here’s what we know:
• According to Mikati’s office, the Lebanese Prime Minister met with Qatar’s emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who “confirmed sending the Qatari foreign minister” to Lebanon to study ways of supporting the country. According to L’Orient-Le Jour’s political correspondent, Mounir Rabih, the Qatari minister is expected to arrive in Beirut tomorrow.
• The Lebanese prime minister also met with his Kuwaiti counterpart, Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Hamad al-Sabah, as well as Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Ahmad Nasser al-Sabah. After the meeting, Mikati’s office tweeted that the premier had assured the latter that Lebanon “takes care of maintaining a close relationship with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and works to resolve any gap that undermines the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation” with these states. The Kuwaiti prime minister, in turn, assured Mikati that his country wanted to “continue supporting Lebanon in all areas, while ensuring the unity of the GCC countries.” “Lebanon is capable of solving any problem or gap” in establishing the best possible relations with Arab countries, Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Hamad al-Sabah added.
• On Friday, Saudi Arabia, a key member of the GCC, recalled its ambassador to Lebanon and expelled the Lebanese ambassador to Riyadh after Lebanon’s Information Minister George Kurdahi defended in a television interview the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen and voiced opposition to Saudi Arabia’s interference in the war there. While the interview was broadcast last week, it was recorded prior to Kurdahi being appointed information minister.
• Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates soon followed in the kingdom’s steps, while Qatar condemned the incident and called on the Lebanese government to “overcome the dissension between the countries.”
• Mikati also spoke with European officials and international organizations about supporting Lebanon as it confronts economic collapse. Mikati discussed with his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, Madrid’s “constant support” to Beirut, while the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, talked to the premier about EU support for Lebanon and the “expected steps” Lebanese authorities should take so the country can benefit from that support, Mikati’s office tweeted.
• The prime minister’s office also reported that Mikati had a conversation with International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva, who reiterated the institution’s desire to help the country exit its current crisis, saying that “the cooperation plan that is being worked on is an opportunity to be seized by all concerned parties because it is the only solution available.” Lebanon’s new government aims to close a deal with the IMF by the end of this year or early next year in an attempt to ease the economic crisis. However, funds are not expected to be dispersed before parliamentary elections, scheduled for late March.
• Mikati also spoke with the French president, and he is expected to meet with the presidents of Egypt and Armenia, as well as with the Italian prime minister while at the summit. Upon his arrival to the summit, Mikati was received by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, with whom he had exchanged a few words.