Diplomatic sources revealed to "Nidaa al-Watan" that the French presidential envoy tasked with following up on the Lebanese file, Pierre Ducan, intends to make a "nearby" visit to Beirut to oversee the upcoming governmental steps. The sources noted that "the message he will carry to Lebanese officials can be summarized as the following question: Where do you stand on implementing the required reforms?"
The sources further clarified that "French-Saudi meetings are ongoing periodically away from the media to track the distribution of aid allocated in the joint fund between the two countries for educational, health, and developmental sectors, as well as for non-profit organizations." They pointed out that Ducan's visit will provide an opportunity to assess the situation in this regard, but fundamentally, he aims to "increase pressure on Lebanese officials to push them to abandon maneuvering and stagnation and to start practical steps for reform so that Lebanon can obtain aid from the International Monetary Fund, particularly as the Prime Minister is the same person who signed the preliminary agreement with the Fund, thus there is no justification for any delay in taking the necessary executive steps under this agreement."
While confirming that the French ambassador to Lebanon, Anne Grillo, is in contact with the newly appointed representative of the IMF in Beirut, Federico Lima, who "informed him of her country's support for the Fund's demands that Lebanon needs to fulfill to receive support," the sources disclosed that "Lima himself explicitly expressed to the Lebanese officials he met upon his arrival to start his duties in Lebanon the need to expedite the implementation of reforms in order to proceed with the agreement signed at the staff level between the IMF and the Lebanese government."
In response to a question, the diplomatic sources asserted that "the internal confusion faced by French President Emmanuel Macron due to the results of the recent legislative elections did not affect the agenda related to his foreign policy." They conveyed that officials in the French administration confirmed that "Macron is determined to push forward all of his country's foreign files, including the Lebanese file, where he will continue the path he started in Lebanon by activating the coordination operations carried out by the team of advisors assigned to follow up on this file."
