BEIRUT, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) — The European Union’s Ambassadors to Lebanon hailed Monday the leadership of Prime Minister Saad Hariri and expressed EU’s support for Lebanon’s upcoming legislative elections, said an EU statement. “The unity government under Hariri’s leadership has contributed decisively to the full functioning of state institutions, including legislative breakthroughs such as the passing of the first budget in 12 years,” said the statement.

EU Ambassador to Lebanon Christina Lassen applauded Hariri’s leadership in holding the parliamentary elections on time in a transparent and peaceful manners. She expressed the EU’s readiness to support Lebanon in this regard. “As on previous occasions, the European Union is ready to stand by Lebanon in this exercise, including through an Electoral Observation Mission which we understood your government will invite in the next weeks.” The EU ambassadors stressed that in a continuously fragile regional context, Lebanon’s stability remains of paramount importance to the EU. In this context, they insisted on the need for the disassociation of Lebanon from regional conflicts and reiterated the EU’s close attention to the implementation of the government’s decision by all Lebanese political parties. The EU ambassadors underscored the importance of Lebanon’s good preparation for a series of upcoming international conferences in Europe as next milestones. They considered these conferences as a coherent support framework that should be embedded in a longer-term vision for political and economic reform in Lebanon. In this perspective, they encouraged steady leadership by the Lebanese institutions and parties to address pending political and economic challenges. “The EU encourages the Lebanese Government to seize this opportunity and maximize efforts to accompany its Capital Investment Plan with a comprehensive and cohesive economic vision as well as a detailed roadmap for economic reforms in the limited time available before the conference,” said Lassen.

The ambassadors also hailed Lebanon’s consistent efforts in fighting terrorism, maintaining internal stability, prevention of radicalization and control of the country’s borders. As regard to the Syrian crisis, the delegation revealed that the next Brussels Conference in April 2018 will be the opportunity to channel additional support from the international community to Lebanon as a whole, politically and financially, to deal with this extraordinary burden, said the statement.