Naharnet

French defense minister to visit Lebanon, not Macron

At a time the Lebanese were expecting French President Emmanuel Macron to visit the country, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu will arrive in Beirut in the coming hours, a media report said.

While in Lebanon Lecornu will spend New Year’s Eve with the French troops and will inspect some French sites and projects in the country, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Friday.

He is also scheduled to meet with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun. Moreover, he will hold meetings at the French Embassy, seeing as he “knows Lebanon well, has many friendships and has visited Beirut several times,” the daily said.

The French minister is also carrying a verbal message from Macron that “stresses the firm French stances, including the call for speeding up the election of a president and forming a new government with the necessary qualifications to continue the financial, administrative, customs and energy reforms,” the newspaper added.


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