21/02/2025 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 21 February, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, announced that the EU wanted a strategic partnership with Lebanon. “The New Pact for the Mediterranean (to be presented in the autumn) means that we will be concluding bilateral strategic partnership agreements with countries, including Lebanon”, she explained to the media in Beirut, following a meeting with the Lebanese President, Joseph Aoun. According to Ms Šuica, Mr Aoun has been very open on this subject and would like to begin discussions on the “substance” of the agreement. She also recalled that the Commission had announced that the last €500 million of the support package announced last year would soon be disbursed, “but there are a few conditions: the main ones are the restructuring of the banking sector and a good agreement with the International Monetary Fund”. (CG)