Borrell Arrives in Lebanon, Says Priority is to Avoid Regional Escalation

 EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell - DPA
 EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell - DPA
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Borrell Arrives in Lebanon, Says Priority is to Avoid Regional Escalation

 EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell - DPA
 EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell - DPA

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell affirmed that his current priority is to avoid regional escalation and to advance diplomatic efforts with a view to creating the conditions to reach a just and lasting peace between Israel, Palestine and in the region.

His comments came in a statement on X platform after he arrived in Lebanon, noting that he will hold important meetings on the impact of the Gaza war on Lebanon and the region.

Earlier last week, a report by the EU revealed that Borrell will meet in Lebanon with Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdallah Bou Habib and Lebanese Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun.

The statement also said that Borrell will hold talks with Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) General Aroldo Lazaro.

"The High Representative will re-emphasize the need to advance diplomatic efforts with regional leaders with a view to creating the conditions to reach a just and lasting peace between Israel, Palestine and in the region."

 



French Minister in Western Sahara to Back Moroccan Sovereignty

This handout photograph released by Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication on February 17, 2025 shows Morocco's Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid (C-R) and France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati (C-L) visiting Tarfaya, in southern Morocco. (Moroccan Culture Ministry / AFP)
This handout photograph released by Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication on February 17, 2025 shows Morocco's Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid (C-R) and France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati (C-L) visiting Tarfaya, in southern Morocco. (Moroccan Culture Ministry / AFP)
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French Minister in Western Sahara to Back Moroccan Sovereignty

This handout photograph released by Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication on February 17, 2025 shows Morocco's Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid (C-R) and France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati (C-L) visiting Tarfaya, in southern Morocco. (Moroccan Culture Ministry / AFP)
This handout photograph released by Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication on February 17, 2025 shows Morocco's Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid (C-R) and France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati (C-L) visiting Tarfaya, in southern Morocco. (Moroccan Culture Ministry / AFP)

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati began a visit on Monday to disputed Western Sahara where she will meet officials and open a French cultural center in a show of support for Moroccan sovereignty over the desert territory.

The long-frozen conflict, dating back to 1975, pits Morocco, which considers the region its own, against the Algerian-backed Polisario Front independence movement.

"This is a strong symbolic and political moment," Dati told Moroccan reporters. Her nation in July became the second permanent UN Security Council member after the US to back Morocco's position.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited Rabat in October telling parliament that Western Sahara was Moroccan, while his foreign minister promised to expand France’s consular presence to the territory.

Economic deals worth over $10 billion were signed during the presidential visit, following which Morocco mediated the release of four French spies held in Burkina Faso.

French support for Rabat over Western Sahara irks Algiers.

Morocco has also won backing from Western Sahara's former colonial power Spain, as well as Israel and more than two dozen African and Arab nations.

The Polisario in 2020 withdrew from a UN-brokered truce but the conflict remains of low intensity.