Wednesday, 10 December 2014

EU ambassador: Lebanon is top priority


BEIRUT: The EU High Representative’s visit to Beirut this week underscored Lebanon’s importance to European actors, according to Angelina Eichhorst, the EU’s ambassador to Lebanon.


High Representative Federica Mogherini’s trip was “very unusual,” given that the current European Commission took office only last month, Eichhorst said.


Her swift trip to Lebanon shows the country “is a top priority for her, as the High Representative but certainly for the European Union [as a whole],” Eichhorst said.


In meetings with high-ranking politicians Tuesday, Mogherini described Lebanon as “at a crossroads,” she said, adding that the High Representative had insisted on the importance of functional state institutions.


“The only thing that can really manage the crossroads is the traffic lights. And the traffic lights are the institutions,” Eichhorst recounted her as saying.


Mogherini also emphasized the “urgent” need for Lebanon to elect a president without outside interference from outside, she added.


No new aid pledges were announced during Mogherini’s visit to Lebanon.


“There were no grand announcements made, as yet, because it takes some time for us to prepare what we can do,” Eichhorst said. “We have to try ... to meet the expectations and the expectations are high, we understand that.”


Mogherini’s trip comes as Lebanese politicians, notably Prime Minister Tammam Salam, have been shuttling between European capitals raising awareness about the country’s current situation.


Salam met Mogherini and EU President Jean-Claude Juncker two weeks ago in Brussels, and he is currently in Paris in what Eichhorst called “a very important visit.”


Moreover, Eichhorst said Lebanon will definitely be discussed at meeting of EU foreign ministers this Sunday. “There will be a very clear, clear reference made to what is happening in Lebanon,” she said.


The EU and Lebanon are also working together on a new “mobility” plan. The new program “has to do with visas, and it has also to do with readmission ... It has to do with security and migration.”


Eichhorst hinted that more high-ranking EU officials would come to Lebanon in the near future and Lebanese authorities would be invited to Brussels.


“It’s through these visits and these very thorough exchanges that we can even cement further our partnership,” she said.



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