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Foreign Minister visits Vatican, attends Mediterranean conference in Rome

Foreign Minister visits Vatican, attends Mediterranean conference in Rome

Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)

BEIRUT— During a visit to Rome, Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah Bou Habib discussed Lebanon’s socioeconomic crisis with Vatican officials and announced his participation in a regional conference.

Here is what we know:

    • From today through Saturday the Italian capital will host the seventh edition of the "Mediterranean Dialogues" conference, a gathering of officials from Mediterranean countries.

    • The minister will also have a number of meetings with Italian officials, during which they will discuss possible cooperation with Lebanon. However, Bou Habib noted that “Italy is like other countries that say helping Lebanon is conditioned on reforms … and I do not mean financial support, but projects.”

    • Bou Habib started his visit to Rome with a meeting with the Secretary of State of the Vatican City, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the National News Agency reported. Their meeting revolved around the crisis that Lebanon is going through at all levels, how to solve it, and the Vatican's “continuous support for the government and the people of Lebanon,” the statement said.

    • Bou Habib also met with the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Paul Richard Gallagher, and discussed with him the support that the Vatican provides for the education sector and how to develop it.

    • The work that the Lebanese government is doing in the field of energy and negotiations with the International Monetary Fund were also discussed.

    • Cardinal Gallagher affirmed the Vatican's support for Lebanon and promised to visit next year. Massimo Castaldi, Vice-President of the European Parliament and a prominent leader in the "Five Star Movement" confirmed to the NNA that "Lebanon, despite all circumstances, remains a priority of European policy and a bridge between East and West."

    • Prime Minister Najib Mikati visited the Vatican last week for a meeting with Pope Francis who compared the country to a “dying person” and promised to exert all his power to help it "rise again." 

BEIRUT— During a visit to Rome, Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah Bou Habib discussed Lebanon’s socioeconomic crisis with Vatican officials and announced his participation in a regional conference.Here is what we know:    • From today through Saturday the Italian capital will host the seventh edition of the "Mediterranean Dialogues" conference, a gathering of officials from...