BEIRUT: After approving a two-year EU support plan for Lebanon, Prime Minister Tammam Salam called Tuesday for more aid to help Lebanon host refugees and for a plan to transfer some refugees to other countries.
“We call for decisions to share Lebanon’s refuge burden, by launching a project that moves big numbers of them to other countries,” Salam said at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding with the European Union.
Signed by EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Füle and Lebanon's Economy Minister Alain Hakim, the memo identified the priorities and amounts of the next two years of EU support to Lebanon.
The plan’s funding will range from 130 million to 159 million euros ($165 million-$202 million) and will be mainly focused on reform programs for the judicial and security sectors, social and economic development projects, fighting poverty and enhancing sustainability and transparency in the natural resources and energy administrations.
While welcoming the announced support, Salam called on the EU to boost its structural development programs in Lebanon and to acknowledge the “dangerous threats facing Lebanon and their potential socio-economic consequences.”
The prime minister stressed on the necessity to provide aid to refugees and poor communities through the Lebanese government.
“The Lebanese public sector has shown excellent competences in planning, studying and implementing projects,” he said.
Held at the Grand Serail, the ceremony was attended by Lebanon's energy, administrative development and environment ministers. The EU was represented by its ambassador to Lebanon, Angelina Eichhorst, and ambassadors of many EU states.
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