The newly designated Ambassador of the European Union to Lebanon, Sandra De Waele, took office this week.

Ambassador De Waele met with caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdallah Bou Habib, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, an EU Delegation statement said.

Speaker Nabih Berri has sent a message with an envoy to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, media reports said.

The message included Berri’s “vision regarding the presidential juncture,” the reports added.

Speaker Nabih Berri is carrying on with his call for dialogue and is awaiting the final stances of the parties, sources from his bloc told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, while noting that “a large number of blocs have announced their support for the initiative, including Christian parliamentary blocs.”

MP Jimmy Jabbour of the Free Patriotic Movement meanwhile told Radio VDL (93.3) that “the FPM respects the stances of the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party” on rejecting dialogue, but noted that “the only way to reach results is going to dialogue among the Lebanese so that foreign solutions don’t get imposed on them.”

Interim Central Bank Governor Wassim Mansouri has held "promising talks" with Arab and Saudi central banks governors on the sidelines of the Arab Banking Conference in Riyadh, media reports said.

Al-Liwaa newspaper reported Tuesday that Mansouri has asked for Saudi support and for enhancing joint financial investments and that in the coming weeks, financial meetings will take place in Lebanon in order to support the central bank.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari has expressed to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi the kingdom’s “surprise” over his support for Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for dialogue, a media report said on Tuesday.

“This has pushed diplomatic sources to say that the procrastination is expected to continue despite the Qatari attempts to inherit the French role in early October,” ad-Diyar newspaper reported.

Will political blocs engage in dialogue to elect a president before the end of September? While Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is reportedly cautious yet optimistic, some parties have lauded his initiative and others have rejected it.

The Speaker had called for a seven-day dialogue, following which open presidential election sessions would be held.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on Tuesday called Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and discussed with him the latest developments in Lebanon, especially the presidential election file, Geagea’s press office said.

The phone talks come a day after al-Rahi met in Diman with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari.

There is an Arab and international inclination to end the presidential vacuum in Lebanon, especially after Central Bank acting governor Wassim Mansouri said the bank will stop lending the government, highly informed sources said.

“Qatar might be willing to help Lebanon financially and to encourage investment in it if all political forces show leniency and concessions that would contribute to ending the presidential void,” the sources told the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal in remarks published Tuesday.

UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti has noted that nothing will change in the work of the U.N. peacekeeping force with the latest renewal of its mandate, adding that partnership with the Lebanese Army will continue.

In an interview with al-Hurra television, Tenenti pointed out that the U.N. resolution that extended the Force’s mandate contains the same wording that was used in 2006.

Saudi Arabia has stressed the need to “finalize the Lebanese presidential juncture as soon as possible so that it contributes to rescuing Lebanon.”

The kingdom’s stance came in a statement issued by the Saudi embassy after talks in Diman between Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.