The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri received this afternoon at the Grand Serail the International Support Group for Lebanon, which included the ambassadors of the United States, Elizabeth Richard, Russia, Alexander Zasypkin, France, Bruno Foucher, the United Kingdom, Chris Rampling, Germany, George Birgelen, Italy, Massimo Marotti and the European Union, Ralph Tarraf, as well as the Chinese Charge d’affaires Jiang Zuyang, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis and the Arab League Representative Ambassador Abdel Rahman Solh, in the presence of former Minister Ghattas Khoury.
After the meeting, Kubis said:
“Prime Minister Hariri received today at the Grand Serail the members of the International Support Group consisting of Ambassadors representing China, France, Germany, Italy, Russian federation, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the European Union, the league of Arab states and the United nations.
Prime Minister Hariri informed the ambassadors about the serious reform overdue measures taken yesterday by the government, be it as a part of the draft 2020 budget to be adopted within the constitutional deadline, or outside the budget.
Prime Minister Hariri reiterated that these and other envisaged measures are just first steps. He credited the consensus in government around them to the men and women that have in the past days protested for their national dignity, restoring national identity and putting it above the sectarian or confessional identity.
He reconfirmed that these measures are not meant to ask the protesters to stop expressing anger as that is a decision that only they can take.
