France FM: Lebanon at risk of ‘disappearance’ if politicians fail to act swiftly

French Foreign Affair Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Baghdad, Iraq on 16 July 2020 [Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu Agency]

France’s foreign minister urged Lebanese politicians to form a new cabinet and implement “urgent” reforms to avoid “the disappearance of Lebanon”.

Lebanese authorities must act swiftly, Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a radio interview ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Lebanon next week.

“It’s for the Lebanese authorities to assume their responsibilities. They are trained and competent, but they have made a consensus among themselves for inaction and that’s no longer possible,” Le Drian said, according to Deutsche Welle.

“The president told them that when he went on August 6 and will repeat it when he is in Beirut on Tuesday.”

Macron, who is set to fly to Lebanon on 1 September, was the first foreign head of state to visit the country earlier this month following Beirut’s port explosion that killed nearly 200 people and wounded 6,000.

READ: France sends reform roadmap to Lebanon

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