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FOREIGN AID

EU promises 'urgent and rapid aid to Lebanon,' Bou Habib says

EU promises 'urgent and rapid aid to Lebanon,' Bou Habib says

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib (center, left), during the diplomatic forum in Turkey on Sunday. (Credit: Hoda Chedid/L'Orient-Le Jour)

BEIRUT —  Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Sunday that the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell promised him that he would "seriously study the granting of urgent and rapid aid to Lebanon" in view of the country's ongoing crises, especially following the Russian invasion of Ukraine which has undermined Lebanon's food security and sent the prices of fuel and imported products soaring.

According to a statement reported by our correspondent Hoda Chedid, the two officials "discussed the impact of the Ukrainian crisis on Lebanon in terms of food security and energy" as part of the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya. Borrell promised "to seriously study the granting of urgent and rapid aid to Lebanon," the document said. The two also discussed "negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and the need to reach an agreement before the parliamentary elections scheduled for May 15 so that Lebanon can benefit from the financial aid that the European Union has devoted to it." They also discussed "the dangerous and amplified repercussions suffered by Lebanon due to the presence of more than one and a half million Syrian refugees on its territory … in view of the inadequacy of international aid."

On Friday, Bou Habib said that "Turkey helps Lebanon to overcome its economic problems," describing it as a "friendly country." He also acknowledged that the government "is carrying out reforms with a certain slowness," while the international community keeps urging it to accelerate and intensify efforts in this direction.


This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.

BEIRUT —  Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Sunday that the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell promised him that he would "seriously study the granting of urgent and rapid aid to Lebanon" in view of the country's ongoing crises, especially following the Russian invasion of Ukraine which has undermined Lebanon's food security...