Deputy Prime Minister, caretaker Minister of National Defense and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Zeina Akar, visited Germany where she held talks with Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, in the presence of Lebanon’s Ambassador to Germany, Mustafa Adib.
Talks dealt with bilateral relations and the situation in Lebanon and the region. They also touched on the projects implemented by Germany in Lebanon, the repercussions of the Syrian displacement, and the best means to help Lebanon overcome its current crisis.
Minister Maas expressed his country’s readiness to “assist Lebanon in several areas, in cooperation with the European Union, especially since Germany ranks second among the countries supporting Lebanon.”
Minister Akar praised “the historic and distinguished relations between the two countries, and the great assistance and support that Germany has bestowed upon Lebanon over the past years, especially after the Beirut port explosion.”
Minister Akar later met with Parliamentary State secretary for Defense Affairs, Thomas Silberhorn, due to the presence of Federal Defense Minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, outside the country. Discussions featured high on the situation in Lebanon, especially the state of affairs of the Lebanese Army under the current circumstances, and the possibility of providing aid in that regard. Research also dealt with the assistance provided by Germany to the Lebanese Navy after the Beirut port blast, where three agreements were signed for the reconstruction of the port’s navy base, the establishment of a training school, and the provision of a special radar for the navy.
Minister Akar was handed an invitation from the German Minister of Defense to attend the first conference of women defense ministers to be held in August in Berlin.
The Lebanese minister also convened with Secretary of State for Economic Cooperation and Development, Norbert Barthle, because the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development also happened to be traveling. They discussed the projects implemented by the German Foundation for International Development, and the RF program (3). Barthle expressed the German companies’ readiness to conduct a study on the reconstruction of the port of Beirut.
Akar later met with Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Norbert Röttgen, and discussed with him political affairs, in addition to bilateral relations and ways to bolster them.
Source: National News Agency