Press remarks by High Representative/Vice-president Josep Borrell after meeting with Foreign Minister Bou Habib

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Thank you. Thank you for hosting me, dear Minister [for Foreign Affairs of Lebanon], dear Abdallah [Bou Habib] - we met recently in Brussels and in Cairo, and we have had frequent phone calls.
I appreciate very much your openness and insights, and your strong cooperation in our relations.
But most of the time, unfortunately, we have to talk about dramatic developments affecting Lebanon and the people of Lebanon, from the crisis in Syria - unsolved crisis in Syria - and the war in Gaza, which both have negative consequences on your country.
Since I last visited Lebanon in January, the drums of war have not stopped pounding. Since then, the fears I was outlining have been growing - [fears of] more escalation; fears of regional spill-over of the war in Gaza; and fears of more wide-spread human suffering.
But the Lebanese people want and seek for stability, for peace and development, instead of war.
My message today is that the European Union stands on the side of the Lebanese people to help to overcome the threats and challenges as much as we can.
Minister, you and me, we agreed that the war in Gaza is an horrific tragedy for the Palestinian civilians - also for the hostages not being released. It is difficult to describe; this horrific situation is something that escapes the capacity to describe. But words are necessary to condemn the killings of civilians, as it has happened again this week and to urge an immediate end to the war.

But it is also a permanent threat for regional stability, and particularly for Lebanon. Across the Blue Line, it triggered the forced displacement of tens of thousands of civilians, who had to flee from their houses - on both sides of the border.
According with the United Nations, more than 4,000 residential buildings have been completely destroyed in South Lebanon. More than 110,000 Lebanese have been forced to leave their homes since October 2023. The same thing happens on the other side of the Blue Line.
We need to de-escalate military tensions, and I use this opportunity to urge all sides to pursue this path.
I urge all the Lebanese leaders to work together in the interest of the Lebanese nation and the state of Lebanon - and no one else.
The full and symmetrical implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 should pave the way for a comprehensive settlement, including land border demarcation and allowing the return of the people, and the reconstruction work in the affected border areas.
Dear Minister, beyond the imminent risk facing Lebanon, allow me to highlight another important point. For Lebanon to secure stability and peace, functioning national institutions need to be restored - including the Presidency of the Republic, and the Council of Ministers. There is no way for you to defend the Lebanese interests abroad - in the broader world - without being, in the first place, stable and united at home.
You have to fix your economy, you have to reform your banking sector - this is crucial. And I was happy to hear from my interlocutors that they see it is the way to go. And I think this will happen soon.
The European Union is ready to continue supporting Lebanon, and Lebanon's leaders to face the challenges of stability for the sake of the resilient Lebanese people - who, like many others in the region, have been kept away from peace and prosperity. But we can only assist, we can only [help] overcome the internal obstacles, if the Lebanese help themselves. Working for the interest of the Lebanese people, and no one else, is the way to go.
Since this will be my last visit to Beirut as High Representative of the European Union, allow me to thank you, dear Abdallah, for your tireless efforts for peace and stability in Lebanon and in the region, for our enriching exchanges and insightful friendship. I wish you, and your colleagues success from the bottom of my heart. I hope you will be able to push Lebanon for a way of combining political freedom, economic prosperity, and social cohesion.
Thank you.
Q&A
Q. You have spoken about drums of war and you spoke about the European efforts for diplomacy. Due to what you know and due to the rounds of discussions that you have made, is war an inevitable reality or diplomacy is making progress?
War is never inevitable. It depends on the will to avoid it. Yes, we have been working and, by the time being, the announced full waged war in the South of Lebanon with an invasion has not happened. That is good news. In spite of that, unhappily - and I went to the South of Lebanon to visit the United Nations troops at the United Nations mission - the threat remains. And the destruction and the everyday bombing continue. But we - I think - have avoided the worst. So, we have to continue pushing for a comprehensive peace in the region. Comprehensive peace in the region means that the security of Israel depends on the capacity of the Palestinian people to have a future, based on their own state and freedom. It means that the peace in the border between Lebanon and Israel depends also in the peace in West bank and Gaza. The security of navigation in the Red Sea depends also on how the peace and stability is being reached in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. We are working on all these fronts, and certainly the result is not 100%. Unhappily, massacres in Gaza continue, unhappily the threat on the Lebanese border continue, unhappily, the colonisation in the West Bank continues. But we should not give up.
Q. Have you brought with you written proposals for de-escalation in Southern Lebanon? How can the international community stop the Israeli assault on Lebanese civilians and medical teams in Southern Lebanon?
Well, as I said, the security, peace and stability if the region has to be considered as a whole. The international community - I am not speaking on behalf of the international community. I am much more modest than that. I am just speaking on behalf of the European Union. The international community is much broader than the European Union. I can say what we are trying to do from the European Union. First of all, we are the biggest donor of financial support to the Palestinian Authority. We are the biggest donor of humanitarian support to Gaza. These are not negligible things. We are preaching in all fora in which we can in order to get a ceasefire. We are putting all of our diplomatic efforts in order to avoid an escalation in the region - in particular in the south of Lebanon. I do not have a magic wand. What we have is the political will to use the diplomatic tools and financial capacities in order to influence the actors to stop the war, to avoid escalation, and to look for a peace agreement starting with a ceasefire in Gaza.
Q. [in Arabic - e-Translation: Do you see that Israel is really not interested in a ceasefire in Lebanon free of the ceasefire in Gaza? How do you respond to what has been said about Israel's refusal to receive you?]

As I said, the European Union is doing a lot, but we do not have a magic wand. I can only repeat once and again the same thing. You can ask the same thing 20 times, I will answer the same thing 20 times. We have the capacity of using our resources financially and diplomatically in order to try to look for peace in the region. And that is what we are doing and that is what we will continue doing.
Q. [in Arabic - e-Translation: On the impasse regarding the equal implementation of International Resolution 1701 Israel and the Palestinian resistance factions, may we be facing a new amendment to Resolution 1701 or may we be facing a new international resolution? A second question in parallel was you submitted a proposal to impose sanctions on two Israeli ministers for their racist statements. What form of punishment will this be?]

It is nothing new. Everybody knows that there is the proposal on sanctions. According with our rules of procedure, the sanctions are related to individual behaviour based on the travel ban and capital frozen. But it is something that the Council will have to decide. About the modification on the United Nations resolutions: once again, it goes beyond my capacity. It is something where the international community has to act according with the wishes of Lebanon. But is not for me to come here to say how this resolution has to be modified.

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