French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during an official visit to Riyadh, December 3, 2024. (Credit: Jeanne Accorsini/Pool/AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron urged Hezbollah to “facilitate a consensus” ahead of the Jan. 9 presidential elections parliamentary session, held after more than two years of presidential vacuum.
In an interview with Annahar newspaper on Wednesday, Macron said that the presidential election should take place “as soon as possible now that a cease-fire has been reached” between Hezbollah and Israel.
“This is why I asked [French envoy] Jean-Yves Le Drian to visit Lebanon as soon as it was concluded,” he explained, hoping that the Jan. 9 session would be “conclusive and enable Lebanon to emerge from its institutional crisis.”
President Macron hoped that all Lebanese actors would “contribute to the solution,” and that Hezbollah would “facilitate a consensus and allow the Lebanese to come together.”
“More than ever,” he said, “Lebanon needs a president capable of leading a national dialogue that takes into account the interests of all Lebanese. It needs a government and reforms that will restore the trust of international partners, paving the way for the rebuilding and stabilization of the country.”
The French president also mentioned that Saudi Arabia “has a role to play in resolving the political crisis” in Lebanon. “It's important for us to talk to the Crown Prince about support for the Lebanese Army, to discuss the country's reconstruction, but also to address the political prospects opened up by the Lebanese Parliament session on Jan. 9,” he said.
Respecting the cease-fire
Macron added that regarding the Nov. 27 cease-fire, it was “essential that the parties implement all their obligations, and this applies to both Hezbollah and Israel.”
In this context, he stressed that the international community must “continue to mobilize in support of the Lebanese Army, which is a key element in this agreement and in the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty, in line with the Paris conference held Oct. 24.”
Macron also announced that France would “deploy additional engineers and bomb disposal experts to support the Lebanese Army.”‘
Assad cannot be Iran's agent’
Asked about the resumption of dialogue with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which could facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their country and enhance border control to prevent Iran from rearming Hezbollah, he asserted that dialogue with the regime “is not an end in itself.”
“The Syrian regime must provide an environment that allows Syrians to return to their country safely and under good conditions,” he said, noting that Assad “cannot be Iran's agent against Israel's security and Lebanon's stability.”
Referring to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Macron said that France “will respect its obligations under international law.”
“France speaks to everyone, and that's what makes it capable of playing a role in the region. Let's be clear: regional crises cannot be resolved without dialogue with the Israeli authorities,” he added.
Finally, Macron announced that France and Saudi Arabia would co-chair a conference aimed at restoring political momentum to the two-state solution.
“Our efforts to achieve de-escalation in regional conflicts are very much aligned, especially with regard to Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and Sudan,” he said, stressing the need for a cease-fire in Gaza that would “allow for the hostages to be freed... and for massive humanitarian aid to be delivered.”
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