Raggi: No One Outside Beirut Makes Our Decisions
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said on Thursday that no individual, organization, or armed group has the right to monopolize the state's decision-making, stressing that decisions on Lebanon's national security and foreign policy must be made exclusively by the Lebanese state.
Speaking from Cyprus, Raggi said Lebanon has decided to turn the page on decades during which it became an arena for settling other nations' conflicts, adding that the country should no longer bear the cost of wars it did not choose or conflicts in which it was never a party.
He emphasized that decisions concerning Lebanon's national security and foreign policy will be made in Beirut, and in Beirut alone.
Raggi also underscored that Lebanon cannot fully restore its sovereignty and stability unless the authority to decide on war and peace is vested solely in the state's legitimate institutions.
