October 18, 2026
The French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noel Barrot, arrived at the head of a high-level delegation to Baabda Palace, at the beginning of an official visit to Beirut that will continue on Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, 2026.
The accompanying French delegation includes: Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs, Alice Ruffaut, the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Patrick Durel, the representative for French nationals living abroad, Amélia Lacrave, the Senator from the Hauts-de-Seine province, Christine Lavard, in addition to the Director of the Department of Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East, Romarique Rounan. This joint visit to Barrow and Rafou comes as an extension of the high-level international meeting hosted by Paris last September 17 in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces, which was held under the joint chairmanship of the President of the Lebanese Republic, the French President, and the King of Jordan.
According to a statement issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Barro will reaffirm his country’s firm position in supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty, stability and security during his meetings. It will also stress the necessity of fully implementing the framework agreement signed on June 26, 2026, and UN Security Council Resolution 1701, leading to the disarmament of Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the redeployment of the Lebanese army across all Lebanese territory.
In light of the approaching end of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) at the end of this year, the French diplomat will raise the necessity of creating a new international system to support Lebanon’s sovereignty, support the deployment of the Lebanese army and prevent the occurrence of any security vacuum. In this context, Barrow will express his country’s welcome of the European Union’s decision issued on October 12 to establish the “European Union Support Mission to Lebanon” within the Common Security and Defense Policy, to form a basic pillar in the new international support structure.
On the internal and humanitarian levels, Barrow will urge Lebanese officials to move forward with implementing urgent structural reforms to revive the economy and restore the country’s health, stressing at the same time France’s continued commitment to meeting the urgent humanitarian needs of the Lebanese people.
