European Union Foreign Affairs Commissioner Josep Borrell said that there are European proposals to impose sanctions on Lebanese political leaders responsible for the political stalemate, considering that Lebanon's crisis is domestic and caused by mismanagement and not external or due to the presence of refugees, and noting that its only solution is an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
"Only an urgent agreement with the International Monetary Fund will save the country from financial collapse, and there is no time to waste," Borrell said in a statement to reporters after meeting Lebanese President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace in Beirut today.
The official added - on his first official visit to Lebanon - that the European Union is ready to support Lebanon "as soon as the International Monetary Fund program begins."
He explained, "We have the resources and the will to provide more assistance, but in order to help we need reforms, and Lebanon needs urgent reforms, and elections must be held on time to form a government that will save the country from its crisis."
Warning to Lebanese politicians
Borrell warned of the severe repercussions of the crisis on the Lebanese people, more than half of whom live below the poverty line, and addressed the Lebanese officials by saying that "the crisis that Lebanon is facing is a local crisis, which did not come from abroad, but rather it is a local industry, which you did yourself, and its repercussions are severe on the citizens ".
"A government must be formed and reforms implemented immediately," he added, noting that the European Union Council had developed several options, "including targeted sanctions."
Borrell will meet later on Saturday with other officials, including Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Lebanese privacy
For his part, the Lebanese President said in a statement issued after his meeting with Borrell that "the specificity of the Lebanese situation requires a realistic approach to the formation of the executive authority," noting that "reforms are the main battle that the government will fight once the internal and external obstacles to its formation are overcome."
Aoun expressed his welcome for any support provided by the European Union to form a new government "based on constitutional principles," as he put it.
The international community requires Lebanon, especially since the explosion of the port of Beirut, to implement urgent reforms in order to obtain the necessary financial support to get it out of the cycle of economic collapse that it has been experiencing for nearly two years.
More than 10 months after the resignation of Hassan Diab's government following the explosion of the Beirut port, and despite the weight of the economic collapse and international pressures, Hariri was unable to form a government, due to differences between the political parties.
The formation of governments in Lebanon often takes many months due to sharp political divisions.
But the economic collapse, exacerbated by the port explosion and the measures to confront the Corona virus, are factors that do not allow procrastination.
And France - which leads international pressure on Lebanese officials - imposed last April restrictions on the entry of Lebanese figures it considers responsible for political perplexity and corruption, without disclosing the names.
It also threatened additional sanctions.
But instead of intensifying efforts to form a government capable of implementing reforms, the exchange of accusations of obstruction still prevails.
The political stalemate is exacerbating the economic crisis, which the World Bank has warned is among the ten most severe crises, and perhaps among the three worst since the mid-nineteenth century.
The Lebanese are waiting for hours in long queues in front of gas stations on the impact of a severe fuel crisis, and a large number of medicines have been cut off, and the prices of bread and all foodstuffs, most of which are imported, have risen.