Mikati: Lebanon Rejects Becoming the Syrian Alternative
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed rejection that Lebanon turns into an alternative homeland for the Syrian displaced, urging the European Union to find an immediate and radical solution to this predicament.
We refuse that our country becomes an alternative homeland, and we call our friends in the European Union to preserve Lebanon's value and carry on with solving this issue radically and swiftly, Mikati told a news conference following talks with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, at the Grand Serail.
Mikati indicated that the meeting was fruitful, and that it touched on the bilateral relations between Lebanon and the EU states, namely Cyprus, in addition to the situation in the region and Gaza, and the Israeli aggressions.
I renewed calls upon the EU and the world to pressure Israel to halt its continuous aggression against the Palestinian people, and to endeavor to establish a final, comprehensive and just solution to the Palestinian Cause, he said.
We also renewed calls upon the international community to pressure Israel to cease its persistent aggression against south Lebanon, he added.
We devoted the largest part of our meeting to the file of the Syrian displaced present on the Lebanese territory as well as to the cooperation between Lebanon, Cyprus, and the EU to address this issue and its direct and indirect repercussions, he continued.
Mikati warned that the reverberations of the displaced file’s fireball will not be restricted to Lebanon, but they will also reach Europe.
We believe that Lebanon's security is also that of Europe and vice versa, he said. Our serious and constructive cooperation to resolve this file constitutes the real stepping stone to stability, he underlined.
Mikati also called the EU to offer aid to the displaced in their country to encourage them to return to their homeland.
