UN SECRETARY-GENERAL TRANSCRIPT OF REMARKS TO MEDIA AFTER MEETING WITH H.E. MR. NABIH BERRI, SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT OF LEBANON

Very good morning.

We just had a very constructive conversation, and I’m very grateful to Speaker Nabih Berri, a very constructive conversation about how to best address the complex and difficult situation in which Lebanon is today.

I do believe that only Lebanese can solve Lebanese problems, but I also do believe that the international community needs to strengthen its support to Lebanon to overcome the present very difficult circumstances.

And the United Nations wants to express its strong solidarity with the Lebanese people in this moment and we’ll do everything to mobilize the international community to strengthen its support to Lebanon, humanitarian support, development support and support to the restructuring of the different aspects of the economy and of the financial situation of the country.

Just before this visit, I was in the Port of Beirut to pay tribute to the victims that lost their lives and to express my solidarity to all those wounded and to the families. I know the suffering and I know the will of the people to know the truth, the will of the people to have proper accountability and I want to express my very deep solidarity to all the victims of that tragedy.

On the other hand, we had the opportunity to discuss the presence of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon, the need to end all violations, of the ceasefire and in particular the Speaker has drawn my attention to the violations of the airspace of Lebanon, and also the need for total implementation of the resolutions of the Security Council.

And we discussed the importance of the cooperation between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces that the international community needs also to support much more strongly.

In the scope of our activities we will also be doing everything we can in order to facilitate the negotiations that hopefully will lead to a rapid solution for the delimitation of the maritime border allowing Lebanon to take full profit of the natural resources that lay there and would of course constitute an important contribution to address the economic and social problems of the country.

This is the moment for Lebanese political leaders to come together to overcome divisions, and this is the moment for the international community to strengthen their support to the people of Lebanon. The combination of these two factors, the determination and the unity of Lebanese leaders and the solidarity of the international community, I hope will allow in the near future the people of Lebanon having again the life and the prosperity that was characteristic of the past and that corresponds to one of the oldest civilizations in the world.

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