Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil sent Saturday a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, whereby he stressed that “Lebanon is committed to the political solution in Syria, but refuses to link the return to this solution, which could take time to reach, or link it to the reconstruction.”
He emphasized that the joint statement issued by the EU and UN in Brissels on April 25, 2018, after the closing on the Brussels Conference II to support the future of Syria and the region, contradicts with Lebanon general policy concerning the Syrian refugees, denouncing “the method of intimidation used in the statement, which aims at scaring the refugees who wish to return to Syria.”
The minister called for withdrawing said statement and to redraft it with a vision to resolve the Syrian refugee crisis, based on the concept of return that became at reach.