France’s Macron expresses support for new leadership in Lebanon as it recovers from crisis

French President Macron supports Lebanon's recovery from economic crisis and Israel-Hezbollah war during meeting with President Aoun.

French President Emmanuel Macron met Friday (January 17, 2025) with Lebanon’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun and vowed to support the small nation as it tries to recover from a historic economic crisis and the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

Mr. Macron’s trip to Lebanon, his first in more than four years, follows a 60-day ceasefire deal that went into effect on November 27 between Israel and Hezbollah that aims to end their war. France helped broker the agreement and a French officer is a member of the committee supervising the truce.

Shortly after the ceasefire agreement, Lebanon's parliament overcame a stalemate that had left the presidency vacant for over two years. That cleared the way for the naming of a permanent Prime Minister, prominent jurist and diplomat Nawaf Salam, who is in the process of forming a new government.

Lebanon's government hopes the political breakthrough will boost international confidence and clear the way for the release funds needed to rebuild after the Israel-Hezbollah war, which killed more than 4,000 and wounded over 16,000 in Lebanon. An international conference for Lebanon in Paris in October raised $1 billion in pledges for humanitarian aid and military support.

Macron, who has been critical of Lebanon's leadership in the past, said during a joint news conference with Aoun that France will be supporting Lebanon and that he hopes the country’s new government will open “a new era, that of a change in political behavior, the return of the state to the benefit of all.”

Aoun asked Macron to be a witness that the confidence of the Lebanese people in their country and state has been restored. “The world’s confidence in Lebanon should be also restored," he said.

"The real Lebanon has come back,” Aoun said.