20 December 2021
Grand Sérail
I would like to once again express my gratitude to Prime Minister Mikati for his invitation and for his hospitality. This is the second day of my visit and I must say that I have reasons to feel encouraged.
This is a visit of solidarity, solidarity with the people of Lebanon that was so generous with the refugees that came to the country but now is suffering enormously and deserves the same solidarity from the international community. But obviously it is necessary that the Lebanese themselves do their part of the job.
I was very encouraged in my meetings with the President, the Speaker, and now with the Prime Minister. There is a clear guarantee that elections will take place at the beginning of May before the constitutional date is defined and this means that Lebanon will create the conditions to renew its Parliament and with that, hopefully, to establish new political stability for the future.
On the other hand, I was very impressed today by the work the government is doing in relation to the preparation of the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. A lot of technical work has been done. I am happy that the United Nations team is fully supporting the government and I hope that the necessary political conditions will be created as soon as possible to allow for formal negotiations to take place. But it is encouraging to see how much serious work is being done.
On the other hand, I cannot omit that I had a very emotional moment this morning when I visited the harbor. The suffering of the people, first of all, those that perished, their families, the wounded, the dramatic impact in the lives of so many people is something that of course generates very deep solidarity. On the other hand, I have been receiving messages from many victims claiming for the need of truth to be established, for the need for an independent investigation that is able to produce that truth. I fully understand their concerns and I hope that the institutions will be able to guarantee that.
I want to express to all the victims my very deep solidarity and the hope that the country will be able, not only to rebuild the harbor, but to rebuild its economy and to create the conditions for the prosperity and the development that the Lebanese people deserve.
Thank you very much.