Miqati Kicks off Talks with German Officials

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held talks on Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and several officials.

Miqati met with the chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Ruprecht Polenz, the undersecretary of the ministry of defense, Christian Schmidt, and Birgit Homburger, who is a member of the parliamentary committee on economics and technology.

Following his talks with the Lebanese premier, Polenz said the discussions focused on the situation of countries neighboring Lebanon, in a reference to the Syrian crisis which is tremendously affecting the daily lives of the Lebanese.

“There are around 30,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon and some areas in these countries are witnessing huge violence and civil war, which is reflecting on a small country like Lebanon,” he told reporters.

The German official said discussions also focused on the Lebanese government’s decision to distance itself from the Syrian crisis and ways of German assistance to help Lebanon overcome the problems it is facing with the issue of Syrian refugees.

The German support for Lebanon continues, he said, in response to a question on Berlin’s assistance to the Lebanese army.

Talks between Miqati and Schmidt focused on Germany’s role in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701.

Schmidt voiced his country’s readiness to aid in training the Lebanese army, especially its navy.

On UNIFIL, he said: “We renewed our commitment to remain in the international force until the next year.”

“We will remain serious partners in this mission as long as resolution 1701 remains a necessity for Lebanon,” he continued.

“Given the situation in the Middle East, we believe that there is a need to maintain this cooperation,” noted Schmidt.

The Lebanese delegation made up of Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, Environment Minister Nazem al-Khoury, Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas in addition to the Lebanese ambassador to Germany Ramez Dimashqiyeh is attending the talks.

Miqati and his accompanying delegation travelled to Berlin on Wednesday.