President Michel Aoun welcomed Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the presidential palace, where they discussed the general situation in the country and the status of ministries amidst the caretaker government's operations. They also touched on the post-resignation phase of the government and the necessity for administrations to continue their required tasks. After the meeting, Mikati simply stated in response to a question, "It’s a routine visit with His Excellency the President, and I maintain constant communication with him."
President Aoun was briefed by Foreign Minister and Expatriates Abdullah Bou Habib on his recent visits to Brussels, New York, and Washington at the end of last month. After their meeting, Minister Bou Habib made the following statement: "I had the honor of visiting His Excellency the President to inform him about the visits I made at the end of last month to Brussels, New York, and Washington, where I spoke about the Syrian displacement to Lebanon and delivered a speech at a conference dedicated to this aim in Brussels, called for by the European Union. I emphasized that Lebanon can no longer bear the presence of one and a half million Syrian displaced persons on our land; they are not political refugees but rather economic and security refugees, and the Syrian regime is ready to accept their return without any punishment or issue. They have been with us for about 11 years, while the Europeans still do not have a roadmap to end this situation. In the absence of any roadmap to end this situation, we will not accept to cooperate with them in keeping the displaced persons here with us. All we want from the international organizations that provide aid to Syrian displaced people is for them to stop funding them in Lebanon, but rather in their own country upon their return. It is true that we are currently under a caretaker government, but we are in full agreement in Lebanon on the need to end this situation."
When asked if he sensed any progress on the border demarcation issue during his time in the United States, especially with talk of mediator Hochstein's return to Lebanon, he replied: "I hope he returns and stays here, not that he comes to us every two months, because such intermittent visits do not lead to quick results. We want to reach an agreement, and the Americans are also saying that, mentioning that the Israelis want to reach an agreement as well. If all three parties want an agreement, they need to work continuously to achieve it."
When asked what prevents reaching an agreement, he answered, "I do not know."
Regarding the issue of gas procurement, he stated, "I discussed this matter with the World Bank, and they are ready to begin financing the procurement of electricity from Jordan. There are some obstacles related to gas, and the Egyptians have a significant gas field with a promising future regarding gas sales, which is important for them, and they are asking for exemptions, a process that will take some time to accomplish, but we are on the right path."
He noted that "the obstacles are legal, which requires some time to pave the way correctly."
When questioned about how the delay in diplomatic formations affects our embassies abroad, he responded, "On the contrary, the outside is not affected. They are happy to remain abroad. The unhappy ones are the diplomats here who wish to go abroad, where there is a salary difference between here and abroad. There are no problems with the diplomatic missions abroad; however, there are some issues at the ministry here, and some frustration regarding the lack of formations."
