Brussels, July 13 (SANA) Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced Monday that Italy is working with France on an international mission aimed at achieving stability in Lebanon, the Italian news agency AKI reported.
“We will see what kind of alliance will be formed,” Tajani said in remarks from Brussels on the sidelines of the European Council meeting. “We prefer an alliance under the European Union or the United Nations flag, so there will be a need for a mandate.”
“We will work with France, as we said at the recent Antibes summit, and we are ready to do our part, just as we are ready to continue training the Lebanese Armed Forces, which Italy already does under a bilateral agreement,” Tajani added.
Tajani stressed that the most important thing is to support Lebanon’s legitimate institutions and strengthen their leadership, adding: “We are working for peace and against any escalation in the Middle East.”
On Tuesday, Tajani announced that Italy and France had proposed the formation of a UN force to be deployed in Lebanon after UNIFIL‘s mandate expires at the end of the year.
France and Italy agreed on June 25 to establish a multinational coalition to succeed the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon. French President Emmanuel Macron said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that they want to launch a coalition for the post-UNIFIL arrangement, obviously in coordination with the European Union and the United Nations, to strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and that of its armed forces.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed the initiative, describing it as “a sincere expression of the international community’s commitment to supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability.” Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the United States “has not vetoed” the creation of an international force to succeed UNIFIL, telling Asharq Al-Awsat that Washington “has a problem with international peacekeeping forces, which have become a major financial burden” but had no issue with the proposed force itself.
UNIFIL currently counts some 7,500 peacekeepers from nearly 50 countries deployed in south Lebanon near the Blue Line. The force has been a buffer between Lebanon and Israel since 1978. In August 2025, the UN Security Council decided to end UNIFIL’s mandate on December 31, 2026.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said that peacekeepers will be needed in Lebanon after UNIFIL’s mission expires. He proposed three options to the Security Council ranging from about 2,000 to more than 5,500 UN troops to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and support the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Kh.A / H.H
