French FM visits Lebanon to send message of ‘great firmness’ to bickering politicians

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met with President Michel Aoun, who briefed him on the stalled efforts to form a government.
French President Emmanuel Macron (2nd-L) and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (3rd-L) meet with UN representatives and NGOs mobilized for the reconstruction of Beirut port, on Sept. 1, 2020. Macron pressed his "risky" drive for political change in Lebanon, as the former French mandate marked its centenary while teetering on the brink of the abyss.
French President Emmanuel Macron (2nd-L) and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (3rd-L) meet with UN representatives and NGOs mobilized for the reconstruction of Beirut port, on Sept. 1, 2020. Macron pressed his "risky" drive for political change in Lebanon, as the former French mandate marked its centenary while teetering on the brink of the abyss. - STEPHANE LEMOUTON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Al-Monitor Staff

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Beirut on Thursday for talks focused on assembling a new Lebanese government that can save the former French colony from financial meltdown. 

Ahead of his visit, Le Drian wrote on Twitter that he would send a “message of great firmness” to those blocking the formation of the government, reminding them of France’s solidarity with the Lebanese people. 

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