Valero: France Will Make Sure Lebanon Implements Commitments by Year’s End

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero stressed that Lebanon is obligated to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, noting that Prime Minister Najib Miqati had pledged before the United Nations Security Council to fund it.

He told the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Saturday that France will make sure that Lebanon implement its international commitment before the end of the year.

In addition, he noted that the STL was formed under Chapter Seven of the U.N. Charter, which makes it binding to Lebanon to respect it.

France is closely monitoring Lebanon’s implementation of international commitments and it should do so an annual basis, which is what the Lebanese government vowed to do, he added.

Valero urged Lebanon to respect their commitments as soon as possible.

Asked if Lebanon may be subject to sanctions should it fail to do so, the French official said it expects it to fulfill its vow, especially after Miqati pledged to fund the tribunal before the U.N.

Furthermore, he noted that European aid to Lebanon cannot be presented without Lebanon’s implementation of international obligations.

Meanwhile, French diplomatic sources told An Nahar that the Lebanese government and Hizbullah refuse to discuss the funding of the tribunal at the time being.

They will wait out the issue until March when they can discuss it along with the decision to either extend or halt the term of the STL, they revealed.

They added that French Minister of Economy Francois Barouin had urged Lebanon to clarify its position on the funding, adamantly refusing to impose sanctions on it should it fail to do so, but urging it to exercise more transparency in dealing with this issue.

He did voice concerns however that Lebanon may be hit with EU and American sanctions should it fail to commit to international pledges, said the sources.

EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, however, had denied while visiting Lebanon earlier this week that the EU was preparing sanctions against Lebanon, diplomatic sources told An Nahar.