Report: Macron Refrains from Comments on Lebanon after Aoun Meeting

France does not want to be accused of “meddling” in Lebanon’s affairs which made French President Emmanuel Macron refrain from making a statement after his meeting with President Michel Aoun on Friday, amid dark prospects in light of a government deadlock, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

According to information obtained by the daily, it said the meeting between the two men, on the sidelines of the Francophone Summit in Armenia, was “ordinary,” and that Macron has asserted support for Lebanon but was “frank and clear” it could lose grants allocated at the CEDRE conference if the government gridlock persists.

The international community expects a positive political behavior from the Lebanese state, since there is pressure on Paris to reconsider this aid if the government is delayed, Macron has reportedly told Aoun.

They said Macron has refrained from making a statement after meeting Aoun. First, so that France won’t be accused of meddling in Lebanon’s business.

And second, because this meeting did not resolve the issue of forming a balanced government that justly represents the various national forces in the country which France and other Security Council countries, except Russia and China, insist on, and link the fate of their cooperation with Lebanon to the quality of the next government.