Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries 8TH IPM EP - LEBANON 6-11 April 2009 Report by Ms Béatrice PATRIE, Chair of the Delegation CR\782206EN.doc PE424.296 EN EN TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................... 1 Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries............................................... 1 8TH IPM EP - LEBANON ......................................................................................... 1 6-11 April 2009 ............................................................................................................ 1 I. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 3 II. POLITICAL MEETINGS.................................................................................. 3 1. Meeting with the President, General Michel Sleimane...................................... 3 2. Meeting with Prime Minister Siniora.................................................................. 3 3. Meeting with Nabih Berry, President of the Parliament................................... 4 4. Meeting with Samir Geagea ................................................................................. 5 5. Meeting with Mohammed Raad, head of the Hezbollah parliamentary block5 6. Meeting with Walid Joumblatt and Marwan Hamadé...................................... 6 7. Meeting with Michel Aoun ................................................................................... 6 8. Meeting with Saad Hariri, Leader of the Future Movement ............................ 7 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT .................................................................................... 8 PE424.296 2/13 CR\782206EN.doc EN I. INTRODUCTION The trip took place a good half year after the visit by a Lebanese parliamentary delegation to Brussels, which can be seen as testament to the role the EP Mashreq delegation accords to its relations with Lebanon. As usual, the working party held talks with all political leaders. The timing of the visit was all the more opportune in that elections would be held in Lebanon in June. The working party was able to find out how the election preparations were progressing. At the express request of the Lebanese, a Commission and EP delegation would be involved in observing the elections. When the programme was being drawn up, the Lebanese ambassador in Belgium had suggested a meeting with the leadership of Hezbollah, but this did not unfortunately take place despite intensive contacts that even continued after the delegation's arrival. The working party did, however, have the opportunity to meet the head of the Hezbollah parliamentary block who spoke of the importance of dialogue with his organisation. II. POLITICAL MEETINGS 1. Meeting with the President, General Michel Sleimane The President highlighted, first of all, the importance of the Doha Agreement which had made it possible to achieve reconciliation among the Arab countries and between the different groups within Lebanon. One particularly important aspect was the relationship between Syria and Lebanon, as an exchange of ambassadors had been agreed upon for the first time in their history. The President emphasised that there were fraternal and friendly relations between the two countries, but that the independence of both countries had to be respected. The fate of the Arab peace initiative had also been discussed in Doha. It had been thanks to this initiative that there was still a basis for negotiations with Israel; many Arab countries had wanted to retract it. He was happy with the internal situation in Lebanon: the economic situation was stable, and the security situation satisfactory as the Army was doing its job. He was cautiously optimistic about the elections. The electoral law had introduced some reforms, but these were not yet enough. All religious denominations could also now be found in the different political camps, with the exception of the Shiites who were only represented in one political entity. He was grateful for the EU's support, as it had always stood on the side of an independent Lebanon. 2. Meeting with Prime Minister Siniora In his introduction, he referred in particular to the special political situation in Lebanon which had been affected by the unresolved Palestinian issue for some 60 years. Despite all the problems in the region, Lebanon stood for democracy, openness and the rule of law. CR\782206EN.doc 3/13 PE424.296 EN On top of the complicated political background, there was also the difficult socio-economic situation. If improvements were not made here, there was a danger of widespread radicalisation in society. It was therefore his aim to use investment in the transport infrastructure, education, the health system and environmental protection to create jobs. All this would involve the municipalities more than before, thus also sending out the right signal. He would be presenting a programme for this work in the coming weeks, which could be the basis on which the next Government would work. The security situation was still very tense although some progress had been made. The Government was alarmed at the recent assassination of a prominent Palestinian leader. Whilst the national unity government was very important, it was unacceptable that a minority in the Cabinet should be able to block all decisions. This had not been the case with the previous government, so the new government should go back to the former principles. He felt that good relations with neighbouring Syria were particularly important, but these had to be characterised by mutual respect. Diplomatic relations were the first step, and others needed to follow such as the mutual recognition of borders and an end to arms smuggling. The Arab peace initiative, which dealt with future relations with Israel, had not been represented very effectively by the Arab countries. They also now questioned the point of this initiative, especially since Israel had never really responded to it. The Israeli government had been described as moderate, even though Israeli troops had entered Lebanon twice and there were regular incursions into Lebanese airspace. What was now to be expected of the new Israeli government? If it were to act as the new Foreign Minister proclaimed, this would have wide- reaching consequences for the region. Lebanon should not give up its independence for the sake of another country, be that country Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the USA, France or Israel. He meant it when he said: if Lebanon did not exist, it would have to be created. 3. Meeting with Nabih Berry, President of the Parliament The President quickly ran through the latest political developments: Lebanon had come through one of its most serious crises, and a way forward had been found thanks to the Doha Agreement. He considered the unresolved issues to be the disarming of Hezbollah and ridding Parliament of sectarianism. He therefore advocated implementation of the Taef Agreement which made provision for a second Chamber that would deal exclusively with religious and cultural issues. In the field of education, he was in favour of using the same history books in all schools and lessons in citizenship. He did not expect any great changes as an outcome of the elections. During the war in Gaza, his organisation, Amal, and Hezbollah had put pressure on Hamas to stop firing missiles at Israeli towns. PE424.296 4/13 CR\782206EN.doc EN 4. Meeting with Samir Geagea Samir Geagea was also in favour of the new electoral law, even though it was not ideal. Opinion polls suggested that the March 14 Alliance could obtain a majority. There was considerable tension within the Christian camp, as Christians belonged to two different alliances: the March 14 Alliance and the March 8 Alliance. It was possible to speak with Hezbollah, which belonged to the March 8 Alliance, but not with Michel Aoun, as he went so far as to criticise the patriarch. With regard to the regional context, he considered it important to break out of the vicious circle of Arab-Israeli conflict as soon as possible. He recognised the danger of several countries in the region one day possessing nuclear weapons. As Israel and the Palestinians were incapable of finding a solution to the conflict by themselves, a powerful broker had to be found. There was, however, not much time left. He was sceptical concerning the elections in Iran. These were not proper elections as they would not lead to any great change. The real power lay with the religious leader, Khamenei. 5. Meeting with Mohammed Raad, head of the Hezbollah parliamentary block At the outset of the discussions, Mr Raad welcomed the Delegation's desire to set up this meeting. His organisation's only wish was for dialogue, but the EU had unfortunately refused to engage in this dialogue up until now. In an international context, there had been a significant change with the election of the new US President. His organisation was monitoring developments very closely but had not yet detected any change with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the relationship between the USA and Iran. On a regional level, he was very critical of the fact that some political systems were outdated and had nothing new to offer. There was a danger that they would establish contact with Israel and thus undermine peace talks. Israel was neither willing nor able to pursue peace. Israel was a threat to peace in the region, as it still occupied not just Palestinian, but also other Arab, lands. Despite