The need to find ways to “contain the crisis in Lebanon and finally allow us to have the peace that everyone is seeking,” Foreign Minister Giorgios Gerapetritis stressed after attending the International Conference in support of the Lebanese people and sovereignty in Paris today.
The Greek Foreign Minister noted that Greece, part of the international community and a member, in a few days, of the United Nations Security Council, “will always be at the forefront of peace. Peace, which at the moment is at a very high risk.”
He also emphasized the risk of a humanitarian and migrant crisis, saying that the crisis in Lebanon has very significant consequences and may have even worse consequences, taking into account the fact that there are tens of thousands of migrants in Lebanon, who are currently in a homeless situation.
“There are people, more than a million, who have been displaced from their homes. There is a total humanitarian crisis that we have to manage,” he said, adding that the international community should step up humanitarian assistance.
He stressed that our country has already sent humanitarian aid and will continue to do so through the European Civil Protection Mechanism and the United Nations Coordination Office. Specifically, our country has already sent a shipment, which includes medical and other critical, essential, materials, while there will be a second shipment, which will be sent immediately. As the Greek Foreign Minister said, “money has already been committed, which will be used to alleviate the suffering of the people.”
“I am in constant communication with the Lebanese government, the Prime Minister, and the Foreign Minister, so that we can coordinate our actions to bring as much aid as possible to Lebanon,” Mr. Gerapetritis stressed, noting emphatically that “at this critical crossroads, we must guarantee the security of the entire region.”
He added that everyone understands that in this era the situation is extremely complex, with the hotbeds of war in the Middle East. “We all have to work in an organized manner. The international community must come to the fore,” he said.
The International Conference in support of the Lebanese people and sovereignty was held at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, who called in Paris today, on an extraordinary basis, the representatives of the G20, representatives from the European Union and the Arab world, to discuss ways to contain the crisis in Lebanon in order to bring peace to the Middle East.
