SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 28 March 2024, Thursday |

President Aoun meets French Senator

President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met French Senator, Ronan Le Gilt, and French Advisor Abroad for Lebanon and Syria, Lucas Lamah, today at Baabda Palace.

The French Senator conveyed the greetings of the President of the French Senate, Gerard Larcher, and his warm wishes for the beginning of the new year, in addition to his constant keenness to strengthen friendship bonds between Lebanon and France. The President of the French Senate also hoped for an internal Lebanese-Lebanese dialogue to address the challenges of sovereignty.

After the meeting, Senator Le Gilt said in a statement: “Today, as the French Senator who represents the French residing outside France, I had the honor to meet His Excellency President Michel Aoun, and this is a cause of great pride for me, because Lebanon wears a unique and exemplary character in relation to the relations that France can establish with other countries.

All our work comes from here, both in the House of Representatives and the Senate in general, and what I do in particular within the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Defense and Military Forces, consistently emphasizes that Lebanon has a unique, distinctive and important position in our interests.

In addition, I am a member of the Senate, and I represent the French residing outside France, that is, in various parts of the world. In Lebanon, in particular, there are about twenty thousand French who constitute a very important and strong community. The French-Lebanese relations are personal and individual, and for this reason I think that meeting with His Excellency the President is of great importance to the French Senate. I handed President Aoun a copy of the speech delivered by the President of the Senate, Gerard Larcher, during the month of November, in which he hoped to hold a Lebanese-Lebanese meeting to discuss the challenges of sovereignty”.

In response to a question about the content of President Larcher’s speech, he replied: “You know the extent of President Larcher’s attachment to Lebanon, and the depth of his love for this country. Throughout his life, and in any position in which he worked, he focused his interests in order for the French-Lebanese relations to be deep, special and lively. I am thankful to the President for reminding me of this, especially in terms of the depth of his relations with President Larcher, especially since he lived part of his life in France, which he knows amazingly, which we also discussed”.

Asked about the importance of the current election year that France is going through, which will culminate in the election of a new President, and whether the result of French interest will witness a temporary decline for this reason, and what about the post-election period, Le Gilt replied: “France will decide in April its fate for the coming years, through the presidential elections. What I can tell you about the French Republican Party to which I belong is, our candidate for this election, Mrs. Valerie Pecresse, also worked, in turn, to strengthen the friendship between France and Lebanon, in a lively way, as Minister and also as President of the Ile-de-France region. She was elected President of the French Republic, and I can assure you that the strong ties between France and Lebanon will strengthen Mrs. Pecresse, and with her there will be no doubt about the depth of French-Lebanese relations in the future”.

Regarding the possibility of Mrs. Pecresse visiting, as a candidate, to Lebanon, according to the tradition of presidential candidates, he answered: “I am not in the position to specifically answer this question, but as soon as information is available on the subject, it will be known”.

    Source:
  • NNA