25/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 25 July the president of the European Council Matti Vanhanen provided a reply to Jacques Chirac's written request of 20 July in which he called for an increased role of the EU in resolving the crisis in Lebanon. Mr Vanhanen said that, “this affair is an absolute priority for the Finnish presidency and the European Union as a whole”. He underlined the fact that Javier Solana “is sparing no effort in view of political initiatives for resolving the crisis and relaunching the peace process…The EU must remain in the first rank of efforts made for finding an end to the crisis and building a sustainable peace in the Middle East to which its inhabitants have been striving for a long time. Mr Vanhanen also said that he very much appreciated France's assistance during the evacuation of European nationals from the Lebanon. He concluded that, “many Finnish people were able to return home in this way thanks to the support of France…European solidarity has once again demonstrated its validity as a real basis for our Union”.