[autom.vertaling] President Borrell bevestigt Parliament' s verplichting aan duurzame vrede in Libanon (en)

The President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell, visited Lebanon on 14 and 15 September 2006 to reaffirm the European Parliament's political commitment to working for a lasting peace in Lebanon and in the Middle East as a whole.

President Borrell pointed out that during the summer the European Parliament was the first to call for an immediate ceasefire and for Europe to be closely involved in a strengthened UNIFIL. The Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, also accepted an invitation from Mr Borrell to address MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 27 September 2006. For Josep Borrell, `the invitation bears witness to the European Parliament's steadfast commitment to galvanising the EU's presence and actions in Lebanon - one of Europe's neighbours. Europe has a duty to maintain a vision for Lebanon's future'.

During his trip, Mr Borrell met members of the Lebanese Parliament and several government ministers. He also visited areas in Beirut's southern suburbs that had been targeted by air strikes, where he was able to assess the full extent of what had happened and see the aftermath of the summer's events. He stated that the role and aim of the European military presence in Lebanon was to `work with the Lebanese Army to ensure that the Lebanese authorities and institutions have full sovereignty over the entire country'.

Finally, President Borrell reaffirmed the need for the root causes of the conflict to be resolved and reiterated the European Parliament's willingness to play a part in this, as mentioned in the resolution that was adopted by MEPs on 7 September 2006. In that resolution, Parliament pointed out that `there is no military solution to the conflict' and called for strong and effective EU action for the reconstruction of Lebanon.