European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced today during her visit to Beirut that the EU will provide a financial assistance package for Lebanon worth €1 billion for 2024 to 2027. The visit followed previous visits to Tunisia and Egypt aiming at upgrading relations with Mediterranean countries and offering them aid to tackle migration pressure on the EU.
Accompanied by the Cypriot President, Nikos Christodoulides, she discussed both EU – Lebanese bilateral relations and the regional challenges faced by Lebanon. It emerged, however, from the joint press conference with the Lebanese prime minister, Najib Mitaki, that the two partners do not share the same views on Lebanon’s challenges.
“My visit today is a strong testimony of the EU’s continued support to Lebanon and its people,” von der Leyen said. “This was also the clear message of European leaders at our last summit, and we are committed to provide strong financial support to the country in view of the significant challenges it faces.“
According to her press statement, the €1 billion until 2027 will “provide much needed assistance to the people in Lebanon and contribute to its security and stability”. She divided the support into three areas. The most important area is support to basic services such as education, health, social protection and water to the most vulnerable people in Lebanon people in Lebanon, including the Syrian refugees.
The other two areas are domestic reforms, in particular those requested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including in the banking sector, and support to border and migration management, including combating human trafficking and smuggling, by strengthening the Lebanese Armed Forces (training and equipment).
“In addition, it would be very helpful for Lebanon to conclude a working arrangement with Frontex (the European Border and Coast Guard Agency), particularly on information exchange and situational awareness,” she said. Frontex has already a questionable record in search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea and has been subject to a recent inquiry by the European Ombudsman.
The financial aid is given in the form of grants. The bulk of it, or ca three fourths of it, will be allocated to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon, explained Peter Stano, EU’s lead spokesperson on foreign affairs, at today’s press conference in Brussels. The Commission President did not take any questions from journalists.
“We will also look at how we can make the EU's assistance more effective,” she said. “This includes exploring how to work on a more structured approach to voluntary returns to Syria, in close cooperation with UNHCR (the UN refugee agency). At the same time, there needs to be strengthened support from the international community, for humanitarian and early recovery programmes in Syria.”
While the EU says that it understands the challenges that Lebanon faces with hosting the Syrian refugees since 2011 (an estimated 1,5 million among a population of 5,2 million), the Lebanese prime minister was blunter in his press statement.
He sees them as burden which has caused resentment in the country and threatens its security. The security threat is not limited to Lebanon but extends to Europe if Lebanon will become a transit country for Syrian refugees, he said. In fact, Lebanon with a complicated sectarian government structure has a record of not integrating refugees or granting them the same aid as other neighboring countries.
According to Mitaki, the majority of the displaced Syrians are economic refugees and do not qualify for asylum. Most places in Syria have become safe and Lebanon will encourage them to return voluntarily to Syria. The Cypriot president, whose country would be the first to receive a flow of Syrian refugees if they would be pushed out from Lebanon, stressed that the current situation is not sustainable.
Referring to the latest Council conclusions, von der Leyen also mentioned that the EU is deeply concerned about the volatile situation in South Lebanon. “What is at stake is the security of both Lebanon and Israel. The two cannot be disassociated. So, we call for the full implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701 by all parties.”
The resolution from 2006 requires Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran in Lebanon with veto power in the parliament, to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon and be replaced by the Lebanese army. “This needs to be part of a negotiated diplomatic settlement,” she said.
A settlement would enable 100,000 displaced Lebanese citizens and up to 80,000 displaced Israelis to return to their homes on both sides of the border. However, this was hardly mentioned by the Lebanese side. Nor did the EU use all its leverage to pressure Lebanon to implement the resolution. Its foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, was travelling to Oxford to lecture about “Europe Faced with Two Wars”.
What happens now? According to Peter Stano, the spokesperson, no agreement was signed but is likely to be accepted by the Council as the EU member states had been informed in advance about the visit. It was also anchored in the Council’s conclusions. The EU wants the refugees to return to Syria but there is no timeline for it. A decision has to be taken by the EU together with UNHRC whether it is safe.
As regards conditionality, he told The Brussels Times that IMF requirements for financial assistance or loans to Lebanon should not be mixed up with the new EU financial assistance package for Lebanon.
According to IMF, Lebanon needs to bring its public finances into order, restructure its public debt, rehabilitate the banking system, expand the social safety net, and reform state-owned enterprises. A long list which requires uprooting corruption and structural changes in the political system which is based on sectarianism.
What about the human rights concerns raised by Olof Skoog, a Swedish diplomat who on 1 March was appointed to EU special representative for human rights? These concerns will be discussed in the human rights dialogues with the countries concerned.
Skoog said recently in an interview in the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter that “there certainly is something in the criticism” against the previous agreements with Tunisia and Egypt.
“We have entered into agreements with Egypt without first ensuring that there is a stable policy on human rights. Usually, it's the other way around. Countries that want to enter into agreements with the EU must first show that they have a serious commitment.” In the meantime, the European Ombudsman has reopened her inquiry into the EU-Tunisia MoU.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
