French Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu began his visit to Lebanon on Saturday by celebrating the New Year with French soldiers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (FINUL).
“
It was important for me to spend New Year's Eve on December 31 with the troops who are away from their families
,” he told Deir Kifa (south).
According to the French embassy in Beirut, he will then meet his Lebanese counterpart Maurice Sleem, the speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and the commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army.
On Saturday, Mr. Lecornu spoke with the UNIFIL chief of mission, General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz, two weeks after the murder of an Irish soldier near the village of Al-Aqbiya (south) whom he described as of "
absolutely terrible ambush
".
He visited Ras Naqoura, the ceasefire blue line between Lebanon and Israel, agreed upon after Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, but which is the subject of disagreement.
The French forces, present in Lebanon since 1978, are among the main contributors to UNIFIL, with 700 men.
According to the embassy, "
this trip illustrates (...) France's attachment to Lebanon's recovery, which requires compliance with constitutional deadlines in order to adopt the necessary reforms
".
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Since the gigantic explosion on August 4, 2020 at the port of Beirut, where Mr. Lecornu will go, France has been trying in vain to encourage the political class to initiate reforms while for two months, political divisions have prevented the election of a president.
Lebanon is going through an economic crisis described by the World Bank as the worst in the world since modern times: the local currency has lost around 95% of its value, while more than 80% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the UN.