The European Union expressed “disappointment and concern” Monday about the resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister-designate over the weekend and urged the country’s leaders to do their best to form a Cabinet that meets the demands of the people.
Mustapha Adib’s resignation during a political impasse came amid Lebanon's worst economic and financial crisis in decades — made worse by a massive explosion in Beirut in early August that killed and wounded many and caused widespread damage.
Adib, who handed in his resignation Saturday, nearly a month after winning majority support from the Parliament, left Beirut early Monday to return to his post as Lebanon’s ambassador to Germany.
Lebanese army soldiers try to open a main highway blocked by anti-government protesters during a demonstration against deteriorating economic conditions as politicians are deadlocked over forming a new government, in the town of Jal el-Dib, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib resigned Saturday amid a political impasse over government formation, dealing a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to break a dangerous stalemate in the crisis-hit country. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Adib’s resignation was a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to break a dangerous stalemate in the crisis-hit country. Macron assailed the militant Hezbollah group and the entire Lebanese political class Sunday, and warned of a new civil war if they can’t set aside personal and religious interests to unlock international aid and save Lebanon from economic collapse.
Macron has been pressing Lebanese politicians to form a Cabinet made up of non-partisan specialists that can work on enacting urgent reforms to extract Lebanon from a devastating economic and financial crisis.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urged Lebanon’s leaders to “unite and do their utmost for the timely formation of a government that must be able to meet the legitimate needs and demands of the Lebanese people.”
Anti-government protesters block a main highway during a demonstration against deteriorating economic conditions as politicians are deadlocked over forming a new government, in the town of Jal el-Dib, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib resigned Saturday amid a political impasse over government formation, dealing a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to break a dangerous stalemate in the crisis-hit country. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Borrell said the new Cabinet should be “committed to address Lebanon’s acute and multiple challenges — notably its humanitarian, socio-economic and financial crises, the coronavirus pandemic and the reconstruction of Beirut.”
He underlined the EU’s continued support for Lebanon and its people.
The international community has repeatedly said that Lebanon will not get financial aid before carrying out reforms to end decades of corruption and mismanagement by the ruling class that brought the tiny country to the verge of bankruptcy.
An anti-government protester holds up a Lebanese flag as army soldiers stand guard during a demonstration against deteriorating economic conditions as politicians are deadlocked over forming a new government, in the town of Jal el-Dib, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib resigned Saturday amid a political impasse over government formation, dealing a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to break a dangerous stalemate in the crisis-hit country. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Macron on Sunday accused Lebanon’s political leaders of “collective betrayal” and choosing “to favor their partisan and individual interests to the general detriment of the country.”
Lebanon’s two main Shiite parties, Hezbollah and ally Amal, led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, had insisted on retaining the Finance Ministry in the new government and on naming all the Shiite Cabinet ministers. Adib rejected those conditions and stepped down.
On Monday, the dollar was trading at 8,200 pounds on the black market, an 8% drop by the local currency since Adib’s resignation. The official rate remains 1,507 pounds to the dollar.
The crisis is expected to worsen as the central bank’s reserve’s are being depleted in what could force the government in the coming months to end subsidies for medicine and fuel, sharply increasing their prices.
Lebanon defaulted on paying back its debt for the first time ever in March. Talks with the International Monetary Fund on a bailout package have stalled.
The crisis has been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and more recently by the Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut’s port caused by the detonation of thousands of tons of ammonium nitrates. It killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands and caused losses worth billions of dollars.
BEIRUT (AP) — The European Union announced on Thursday an aid package for Lebanon of 1 billion euros — about $1.06 billion — much of which will go to strengthening border control to halt the flow of asylum seekers and migrants from the small, crisis-wracked country across the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus and Italy.
The deal follows other recent deals by the EU to provide funds to countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Mauritania to fortify their borders. It comes against a backdrop of increasing hostility toward Syrian refugees in Lebanon and a major surge in irregular migration of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to Cyprus.
European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the aid, which will be distributed between this year and 2027, during a visit to Beirut alongside Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
The bulk of the package — 736 million euros — would go to supporting Syrian refugees “and other vulnerable groups” in Lebanon, while 200 million euros would bolster Lebanese security services in enforcing border and migration control, according to figures provided by the Cypriot government.
An unspecified amount of the aid would go to Lebanese fishermen, to discourage them from selling their boats to be used by smugglers.
Von der Leyen said the EU will also be “exploring how to work on a more structured approach to voluntary return to Syria in close cooperation with” the U.N. refugee agency, or UNHCR, and called for more international support for humanitarian and early recovery projects in Syria.
Europe will also continue to maintain “legal pathways” for resettlement of refugees in Europe, she said.
Lebanon's Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati praised the aid package, saying that "Lebanon’s security is security for European countries and vice versa.”
“Any blowup related to the issue of displaced persons will not be limited to Lebanon but will extend to Europe to become a regional and international crisis,” he said.
Lebanon, which has been in the throes of a severe financial crisis since 2019, hosts nearly 785,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands more who are unregistered, the highest population of refugees per capita in the world.
Lebanese political officials have been calling for years for the international community to either resettle the refugees in other countries or assist in returning them to Syria — voluntarily or not. Lebanese security forces have stepped up deportations of Syrians over the past year.
Tensions around the presence of refugees have further flared since an official with the Christian nationalist Lebanese Forces party, Pascal Suleiman, was killed last month in what military officials said was a botched carjacking by a Syrian gang. The incident prompted outbreaks of anti-Syrian violence by vigilante groups.
Meanwhile, Cypriot authorities have been complaining that their country has been overwhelmed by a wave of irregular migration of Syrian asylum seekers, many of them coming on boats from Lebanon.
The Lebanon office of the UNHCR said it had verified 59 “actual or attempted” departures by boats carrying a total of 3,191 passengers from Lebanon between January and mid-April, compared to three documented boat movements carrying 54 passengers in the same period last year.
Usually, few boats attempt the crossing in the winter, when the passage becomes more dangerous. In total, UNHCR recorded 65 boat departures carrying 3,927 passengers in all of 2023.
Cyprus has taken increasingly aggressive tactics to halt the flow of migrants. Last month, it suspended processing of Syrian asylum applications, and human rights groups accused the Cypriot coast guard of forcibly pushing back five boats carrying about 500 asylum seekers coming from Lebanon. Cypriot officials have denied this.
Christodoulides hailed Thursday's visit as a “historic day” and praised the EU decision, calling for European officials to go farther and declare some areas of Syria safe for return.
“The current situation is not sustainable for Lebanon. It is not sustainable for Cyprus, it is not sustainable for the European Union,” he said.
The new funding announcement comes ahead of the annual fundraising conference for the Syrian crisis in Brussels later this month. After 13 years of civil war in Syria, donor fatigue has set in while the world’s attention is occupied by the humanitarian fallout of more recent conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
Associated Press writer Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, speaks during his meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, speaks during his meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, welcomes Cyprus' president Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen before their meeting at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen pose for photograph at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, right, welcomes Cyprus' president Nikos Christodoulides before their meeting at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, center, review an honor guard upon their arrival to meet with the Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, speaks during his meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, welcomes Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
