MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2021) French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is saddened by the months-long impasse in negotiations to form a new cabinet in Lebanon while the country further plunged into an economic crisis, and warned that the European Union was seeking ways to strengthen pressure on the Lebanese officials who stalled the process, the French Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
According to the ministry's statement, Le Drian held talks on the matter with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.
"The Minister [Le Drian] lamented the complete stalemate for months of talks to form a government in Lebanon, even as the country continues to sink into a major economic, social, humanitarian, and political crisis that the Lebanese people pay the price for every day, placing the country under dangerous and unnecessary tension," the statement read.
It added that any obstruction to stall the process and end the crisis must be ceased, and noted that the minister warned the Lebanese politicians about his initiative, joined by his European counterparts at the EU Foreign Affairs Council held last week, to "identify the levers" of the bloc to increase pressure on those who have impeded the formation of the new cabinet for seven months.
The ongoing crisis in Lebanon has been marked by various obstacles, including the devastating August 4 blast in the capital of Beirut, which brought the country to a new level of public discontent with the then-government led by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, who failed to improve the poor economic situation aggravated by the explosion and subsequently resigned. Hariri, who had previously held the post of prime minister until January 2020 and stepped down after a wave of protests, has been involved in the process to create a new government, but so far no compromise on the matter was found.
In the meantime, the country is regularly rocked by mass rallies amid Currency issues, widespread poverty, and rising prices on essential goods.
