Lebanon has sent an official invitation to the European Union to deploy a new support mission in the country focused on advising and training the Lebanese Armed Forces and security forces. This proposal, which the Twenty-Seven could approve next Monday, is presented as a response to the horizon of withdrawal of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), whose mandate is scheduled to end in 2027.
The announcement was made this Thursday by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, during her visit to Beirut. There she detailed that the design of the future European mission is already concluded and that Brussels now has the formal invitation from the Lebanese authorities, an essential requirement to move forward with its implementation.
"I am pleased that we now have the formal invitation from the Lebanese authorities, which allows us to move forward," stated the head of European diplomacy at a press conference, expressing her hope that the EU foreign ministers will give the final approval to the mission at their meeting next Monday, October 12, in Luxembourg.
The main task of the mission will be to provide advice and support to the Lebanese Armed Forces and internal security forces, in order to strengthen effective control of the territory, border surveillance, and internal security. All of this will be framed within the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701.
Still, Kallas emphasized that this European deployment does not intend to replace UNIFIL, whose mandate expires in 2027, nor limit its area of action to southern Lebanon, the area where the UN blue helmets are currently concentrated.
CALLS FOR MAINTAINING AN INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AFTER UNIFIL
When asked about the security scenario in the south of the country, Kallas defended the advisability of ensuring some type of international presence once the United Nations operation concludes, although she admitted that the details and mandate of a possible successor force are still being discussed.
In this line, he pointed out that the EU member states that today contribute to UNIFIL could be integrated into a future international force. However, he emphasized that any deployment of this type must be backed by a United Nations resolution and by the approval of the involved national parliaments.
"The best thing would be for the mandate of UNIFIL to be extended because, as I have said, a security vacuum is not something we want to see," the High Representative pointed out, recalling the relevance of the UN mission over nearly five decades of presence in the country.