Macron visits Lebanon to push sovereignty, reforms amid new hope

17/1/2025 16:08

France President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Lebanon on Friday for the first time since 2020 to help speed up the formation of a government that can quickly implement reforms and open the door to reconstruction. Since a truce brokered by France and the United States in November between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, Paris has played a key role in helping break Lebanon's political deadlock, along with its American and Saudi counterparts, that has now led to a new president and prime minister.



As a former French protectorate, Beirut has strong historical ties with Paris, but the relationship has been complicated in recent years. Macron expended a great deal of political capital in 2020 in a failed effort to convince Lebanese actors to back political and financial reforms after the Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people and destroyed entire neighbourhoods.



"In three months, we have helped Lebanon move from escalation to recovery, and to open a new page of hope," France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who will be in Lebanon with Macron, said in parliament during a debate on French Middle East policy.



"With popular support, a broad internal consensus and international backing, the new Lebanese executive can act decisively to restore state sovereignty and rebuild Lebanon."