The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, had a friendly meeting today in New York with his counterpart from Lebanon, Gebran Bassil, on the sidelines of the 74th General Assembly of the United Nations.
The meeting focused on the close bilateral relations between the two Countries. Minister Di Maio highlighted our Country’s unfailing commitment to strengthening the Lebanese economy and institutions. “Maintaining the unity, sovereignty and prosperity of Lebanon is essential to guaranteeing stability in the Middle East: Italy supports Lebanon’s security based on sustainable and realistic foundations and on the consolidation of State institutions. We have strengthened the Italian Bilateral Military Mission in Lebanon and our military training mission, and we actively support the Lebanese police and navy. UNIFIL continues to provide a crucial contribution to the safety of the southern border, “said Di Maio.
“We are well aware of the difficulties that Beirut is facing due to the presence of large Syrian refugee communities in Lebanese territory”, underlined the Head of the Farnesina. “For this reason we are involved in various humanitarian initiatives to improve the living conditions of refugees and of the host communities, and to transfer particularly vulnerable Syrian migrants to Italy through the humanitarian corridors”.
