The Foreign Ministers (MFAs) of Greece, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as the High Representative of the European Union, issued a joint statement on the fierce attacks on several areas of Lebanon in recent days.

More specifically, in their joint statement, the European Foreign Ministers expressed their support to the Lebanese people and condemned the attacks carried out by Hezbollah. At the same time, they supported the decisions taken by the Lebanese government, stating that there is no other way to protect the country from foreign interference than by strengthening its state, institutions and sovereignty.

They even called on Israel and Lebanon to negotiate, as well as to immediately de-escalate tensions and return to the cessation of hostilities agreement.

They also reaffirmed concern over the forced displacement of more than 1 million people in Lebanon and urged Israel to avoid further escalation of the conflict, including through a ground operation on Lebanese territory.

“We are determined to continue to support the Lebanese government,” the joint statement concludes.

The statement

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“We, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom, as well as the High Representative of the European Union, express our full support to the Government and people of Lebanon, who are once again suffering the dramatic consequences of a war that is not theirs. We express our condolences to the families of the victims and our solidarity with the civilian population affected by this war, both in Lebanon and in Israel.

The responsibility for this situation lies with Hezbollah. We condemn unequivocally Hezbollah’s attacks, carried out in support of Iran against Israel, which must stop immediately. Avoiding further escalation of the regional conflict with Iran is a priority.

We support the historic and courageous decisions taken by the Lebanese government. There is no other way to protect Lebanon from foreign interference than by strengthening its state, institutions and sovereignty. In this context, we call for immediate political negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, which can contribute to a final solution to this conflict and create the conditions for peaceful coexistence in the region.

The Lebanese Government has our full support in its approach and we encourage it to continue on this path by implementing concrete and irreversible measures, at all levels, to restore its sovereignty over all Lebanese territory, including the State monopoly on arms.

In this context, we commit to supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Lebanese Security Forces by actively participating in the international support conference to be held as soon as conditions allow. With the aim of making the Lebanese Security Forces the sole independent guarantors of Lebanese sovereignty in the long term, we also call on the Lebanese authorities to continue to adopt the necessary financial and economic reforms, as required by the IMF.

We call on all parties to immediately de-escalate tensions and return to the cessation of hostilities agreement and UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006). We call for the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel, peacekeepers and civilian infrastructure, including airports, ports and bridges throughout the country, in accordance with international humanitarian law.

We reiterate our concern about the forced displacement of over 1 million people in Lebanon. We call on Israel to avoid further escalation of the conflict, including through a ground operation on Lebanese territory. We reiterate with emphasis that Lebanon’s territorial integrity must be respected.

We are determined to continue to support the Lebanese government.”

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