Connelly commends the EU's designation of Hezbollah from Rabieh

                
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly met with Free Patriotic Leader MP Michel Aoun today to discuss the political and security situation in Lebanon, as well as other regional issues.              

Ambassador Connelly said that government formation is a Lebanese process and that the Lebanese people deserve a government that reflects their aspirations and strengthens Lebanon's stability, sovereignty, and independence while fulfilling its international obligations. 

She noted the U.S. hoped to see a formation of a government with which the United States would be able to work more closely.                 

Ambassador Connelly regretted the failure of some parties to respect the Baabda Declaration and noted that interference in Syria by those parties endanger Lebanon’s sovereignty, stability, and security.                

The Ambassador commended the European Union’s recent decision to designate Hezbollah, which sends a strong message that Hezbollah cannot operate with impunity and there are consequences for its actions, such as the Burgas bombing and its terrorist plot in Cyprus.  

Connelly also met with former President and Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel today to discuss the political and security situation in Lebanon, as well as other regional issues. 

She said that the government formation is all the more important given the decision by Parliament to prolong its mandate.  She noted U.S. concerns that Lebanon’s stability is being challenged by multiple factors, including spillover effects from Syria and a lack of internal consensus in favor of maintaining constitutional norms.   

She renewed the commitment of the United States to a stable, sovereign and independent Lebanon, according to a statement released by the embassy in Beirut.