Emmanuel Macron announces 100 million euros aid to Lebanon
August 5, 2021, 6:49 am

Emmanuel Macron announces 100 million euros aid to Lebanon

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According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced 100 million euros (118. 88 million U.S. dollars) in aid to Lebanon.

The Xinhua reported, in his opening remarks at an international donors' conference, Macron pledged "concrete actions to respond to "the real needs of Lebanese population," in education, agriculture and health, which he said "remain an absolute priority."

It said that in this context, France pledged financial aid of 100 million euros over the next 12 months. The country will also send 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Lebanon over the next few weeks.

"We will continue to ensure that our aid will directly benefit the Lebanese in a transparent and traceable manner," the French head of state told the virtual conference.

It should be noted that the blast of the Beirut port on Aug. 4 last year, caused by the explosion of a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate that had been stored in one of the port's warehouses since 2013, killed more than 200 and wounded about 6,500 others.

Source: xinhua

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.