Minister of Foreign Affairs Gebran Bassil stressed on Friday that the alliance with Hezbollah, which has “already broken the longevity record of political agreements in Lebanon, is bound to last.”
He also noted that The Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah are “on the same wavelength regarding foreign policy issues.”
“Internally, the FPM will remain a guarantee for Hezbollah in case Lebanon is attacked by Israel or is under any terrorist attack," he added.
Bassil’s comments were made to Magazine whereby he said that he "regrets" disagreements and differences on certain internal issues.
“The setbacks with Mr. Berri have obviously left their mark on the relationship with Hezbollah, without calling into question the strategic alliance, which has endured so many trials,” he noted.
As for the internal issues, Bassil said that “Hezbollah takes options that do not serve the interests of the Lebanese state, and for this the entire Lebanon is paying the price."
"There is corruption that is eating us away and that we cannot live with it,” he added.
Bassil also noted that in the memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah, there is a “fundamental” clause concerning the construction of the State.
“Unfortunately, this article was not applied, under pretexts of strategic considerations. We, too, hold onto the unity of Christians, however, we are not disposed to trade the interests of the State to achieve it,” he added.
Bassil concluded by stressing that the “Christians cannot live outside the state,” adding however that the internal unity of all communities is important but “not at the expense of the state."
To read the full interview in French, please click here.