French President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Wednesday a further 100 million euros worth of emergency aid for Lebanon, and 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the country,
Times News Express reports.
One year since an explosion ripped through the capital’s port and plunged Lebanon further into economic crisis, its politicians have yet to form a government capable of rebuilding the country, despite French and international pressure.
“Lebanese leaders seem to bet on a stalling strategy, which I regret and I think is a historic and moral failure,” Macron said in opening remarks as host of an international donors’ conference that aims to raise at least $350 million.
“There will be no blank cheque for the Lebanese political system. Because it is they who, since the start of the crisis but also before that, are failing.”
France has led international efforts to lift its former colony out of the crisis. Macron has visited Beirut twice since the port blast, raised emergency aid and imposed travel bans on some senior Lebanese officials in his quest for a reform package.
He has also persuaded the European Union to agree on a sanctions framework that is ready to be used.
