After the meeting of the International Support Group for Lebanon, held today in Paris, the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations Ms. Amina Mohammed and Prime Minister Saad Hariri held a joint press conference.

Le Drian

Minister Le Drian said: "President Macron wanted to convene the International Support Group for Lebanon today in Paris after a sequence in which France has worked hard to avoid a serious crisis. So we are pleased to welcome Lebanese President of the Council of ministers Saad Hariri here in Paris, two weeks after his previous visit to Paris at the invitation of the President of the Republic and a few days after his confirmation that he will remaining president of the Council of ministers. I was also happy to welcome my Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil whom I particularly welcome. And I also want to acknowledge the strong mobilization of the United Nations and to thank you, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, for your presence and your commitment.

I believe that three words summarize the meeting of this morning. First, unity. The partners of the International Support Group for Lebanon retold their unanimous commitment to the sovereignty of Lebanon and its model of political and confessional plurality. Second, determination. We are committed to making every effort to ensure the stability of Lebanon. We support the determined action of its army and its security services to fight terrorist groups and we also call on the Lebanese parties not to be involved in external conflicts and not to import regional tensions into their country. This is what is called, according to the speakers, disassociation or distancing oneself, but it is ultimately the same concept. And lastly, we recall the essential contribution of UNIFIL to stability in southern Lebanon. Unity, determination and mobilization. This meeting made it possible to take new initiatives in favor of Lebanon. I am thinking in particular of the two support conferences that the President of the Republic had already called for during President Aoun's state visit to Paris. One will aim to support investment in Lebanon, with the valuable commitment of Germany.

It will be held in Paris during the month of March. This will be called Paris IV since there have been previous meetings in the past on support for investment. And the other will be devoted to the means of the army and security structures in Lebanon with the Italian initiative that I particularly welcome and the support of the United Nations. And finally there will be a conference to be organized in Brussels to respond to the humanitarian needs and help Lebanon take care of the many refugees present on its soil, and I would like to welcome the mobilization of the High Representative of the European Union in this regard.

There is a coherence around all this, around the confidence we all expressed in Lebanon. This country needs strong institutions to meet all the challenges I have just listed and this morning's meeting will make a significant contribution to this challenge. This is what I can say for the moment about this meeting which took place in an extremely positive atmosphere".

Hariri

Then, Prime Minister Hariri said: "I thank President Macron and France for convening this conference. This meeting witnessed a consensus on the stability of Lebanon. Everyone wants to see the implementation of the government's decision of dissociation by all political components, and I can tell, from my presence in the government that all political groups want to implement this decision. We talked about economic and security stability and about a road map that would lead to this goal. A conference will be held in Rome to help the army and all the security forces. There is also an economic conference for investments in the infrastructure that will be held in Paris and will be important to the Lebanese economy.

We are committed to hold the parliamentary elections on time as stipulated by the law. There are reform programs that we must be done in Lebanon to improve our economy, especially with regards to the private sector because in the Paris conference the private sector will have a large share in implementing this program."
He added: "The major crisis that we are experiencing in Lebanon is that of the displaced, and Lebanon is paying a very high price on behalf of the world. The displaced are entering Lebanon and we as a state have taken a clear and frank position regarding them. The only solution for us is their return to their homeland, but at the same time it should be a safe return.

Until then, Lebanon is paying the price and the world must understand the burdens that Lebanon is enduring. We thank all the countries that are helping Lebanon, but we all know that this assistance is not enough. Displacement has cost our national economy more than twenty billion dollars since the outbreak of the crisis. We also have social, economic, health and environmental problems, in addition to the security challenges facing the Lebanese. Thus, helping Lebanon to resolve this crisis is very important and essential. What solves this crisis is the return of those displaced, but until that is achieved the international community must shoulder its responsibilities towards Lebanon and towards the displaced."

He concluded: "I want to thank France for its efforts to assist Lebanon and stabilize it, whether on the political, economic or security levels. Today's conference accentuates the political stability, and Rome conference will stress the support of the Lebanese army and the security forces to build up security stability. As for the economic stability, Paris conference will help Lebanon meet the economic challenges that lie ahead. I thank the French Foreign Minister and the United Nations for all their efforts. Our journey with you is long and we will continue it together."

Mohammed

For her part, Ms. Mohammed said: "This has been a really great day, Lebanon's day. It is an opportunity that we appreciate. We thank President Macron and the government of France for providing that space for us to come together as the International Support Group and really talk through what it means to move from the recent events to the momentum that we require for what I would say are the three Ss: the solidarity that we need to keep with Lebanon, the stability that has a number of commitments that must be made and carried through, but also the socio-economic development that we must bring behind all of this. We cannot keep that solidarity nor can we rely on the gains of the stability unless we have socio-economic development.

That's about youth, that's about women. It is not something we often talk about when we come out of a meeting like this, but if can look at prevention and we can look at sustaining the gains that we have had from this meeting then I think we can call this a success. But it doesn't finish here. As Prime Minister Hariri goes back to Lebanon, that's when the real work starts, not just keeping that oasis of peace and stability but look at it as an example of what could be for the region. We are certainly in days of much anxiety and we need to see more hope like this, so we congratulate France and we congratulate all of us for coming out with a good communiqué that will give us the next steps to keeping that momentum to the meetings that we have and hopefully successful elections in the months to come".

Questions

Question: The last crisis was with Saudi Arabia. Have you contacted Saudi Arabia? Have you had any commitment from the Saudis to respect the stability of Lebanon? And how to concretely support the Lebanese army?

Le Drian: The relations that France has with Saudi Arabia are relations of trust and transparency on the decisions, intentions and initiatives. So this meeting took place with the information of all actors including Saudi Arabia. And on the question you are asking me about the Lebanese army, there will be a meeting in Rome that will mobilize resources to strengthen both the capabilities of the army and the internal security forces. It is at this point that we will be called upon to mobilize participation under the responsibility of President Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Question: What is your message when organizing this conference? What is your message to Lebanese, regional and international actors in a very tense regional context?

Le Drian: The message is clear. I think I mentioned it in my remarks and President Macron said it earlier in introduction. We note with great satisfaction the unity of the international community on the principle of the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon, and the principle of distancing and disassociating Lebanon from all the crises and disturbances that may occur in all the region. We are reaffirming our confidence in this country and in the multi-denominational model that has been in place for a long time, which has sometimes gone through moments of disruption but which has now returned to a good path.

Question: What guarantees did you receive from the local, regional and international parties to respect Lebanon's disassociation from regional conflict, knowing that this clause existed in the Baabda Declaration four years ago?

Hariri: We took a decision in the government. Maybe this is the first time we talk about a governmental decision about disassociation in this way. All political parties agreed on the disassociation policy, and every political party sitting on the cabinet table is responsible about the disassociation.

The guarantee is that this decision was taken unanimously. There is a political understanding in the country that this decision must be respected. I said that we want a decision in deeds and in words. I see that everyone is aware of the challenges and the risks of the region, and Lebanon's interest requires everyone to respect this decision clearly and frankly.
Any breach of this decision will put Lebanon in the danger circle in the region. I will be very serious about this issue, and I know that the President will follow it up closely because Lebanon's interest requires everybody in Lebanon to disassociate themselves. Doubting this issue before anything happens is unbeneficial, and we should wait for the results.

You will see that Lebanon will commit to the disassociation policy and will carry out its duty in this regard. We hope everybody will participate in these conferences to strengthen the Lebanese state because in the end it is in our interest to strengthen the state, the government, the army and all institutions in Lebanon. This conference supported stability in Lebanon and the other conferences will support security and economy in Lebanon.

We want a democratic and strong state and we are seeking this with the President and the Speaker and you will see that this is what will happen on the ground.

Question: Do you have a role to play with Iran, because this role can really help Lebanon overcome its crisis?

Le Drian: The answer is simple. Distanciation, or disassociation, is addressed to everyone, inside and outside.

Question: What is the extent of the chance that you will give to implement disassociation, especially after your stance regarding the statement of Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Kassem from Tehran?

Hariri: I answered on the issue of disassociation, and I will solve this subject in Lebanon and will not talk about it here, but everyone is committed to the disassociation policy and I assure you that you will see the positive results in Lebanon.

Question: How do you protect Lebanon so that it does not fall again victim of the Iranian-Saudi conflict?

Le Drian: I will repeat what I just said. Disassociation is applied to all. These are principles to which we are committed, which echo previous United Nations resolutions. Be it Saudi Arabia or Iran or others, it is binding to all. It is the respect of these commitments, to which we are attached, that that we all reaffirmed this morning in this conference. It was necessary to recall them with force, it has been done. The principle of disassociation also implies strengthening the Lebanese state and here too, initiatives have been taken.

Question: Do you fear a new settlement project for the Palestinians in Lebanon after the announcement by the United States that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel?

Hariri: The settlement is rejected and our constitution is clear in this issue. The right of return is essential for us and it is the right of the Palestinians to return to their homeland. There is no doubt that the American decision is fueling the whole region at a time it needs calmness, real solutions and to boost the peace process again based on the two-state solution with Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinians. The announcement represents a great challenge to all, but we in Lebanon are aware and act accordingly.

I want to reiterate that the disassociation is in Lebanon's highest interest, and I assure that there is no crisis in the relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On the contrary, we have a special relation with the Kingdom and we are keen on the relations with it and with all the Arab countries and all the countries of the world. What concerns us regarding the stability of Lebanon is to have clear stances regarding this issue and this happened in the Council of Ministers. Lebanon is a model of coexistence and we will emerge from all these crises and our friends will be with us and will accompany us in all these phases

Source: NNA