Macron will return to Lebanon on September 1

Emmanuel Macron will pay a new visit to Lebanon on September 1, as he announced when he came to Beirut after the explosion that devastated the capital on August 4, the Elysee confirmed on Wednesday.

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The French president will arrive in Beirut on Monday evening before a busy Tuesday day which will be devoted to " monitoring reconstruction aid " and political issues as Lebanon searches for a new government, the presidency said.

First president to visit Beirut

Emmanuel Macron was the first foreign leader to visit Beirut on August 7, three days after the gigantic explosion at the port of several thousand tons of ammonium nitrate which left around 180 dead and devastated entire neighborhoods. He then co-organized with the UN an international conference by videoconference, on August 9, whose participants pledged aid of 250 million euros, including 30 million from France.

During his visit, Emmanuel Macron urged the Lebanese authorities to initiate structural reforms in order to be able to benefit from crucial international financing for a revival of the economy, in full collapse for several months. Since then, faced with the anger of the street, which makes the political class responsible for the explosion, the government of Hassan Diab resigned on August 10. The Lebanese authorities also decreed on August 21 a containment after a sharp rise in coronavirus contaminations.