EU offers to help Lebanon maintain security and stability

The European Union (EU) is ready to support Lebanon to face the current hard challenges especially those concerning the displaced Syrian refugees, a senior European Parliament official said on Wednesday.

The remarks came from Elmar Brok, chairman of the Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, after talks with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on Wednesday.

The meeting "focused high on overall developments at the local and regional scenes and bilateral ties between Lebanon and the European Union," according to the National News Agency.

Brok said that they also touched upon Lebanon's domestic issues, "such as the electoral law and the elections of a new President," and that the EU, and the European Parliament in particular, is ready to help Lebanon confront this difficult situation.

Also on Wednesday, for the 19th consecutive time, the Lebanese Parliament failed to elect a new president, as the constitutionally required quorum is still lacking due to the continuing boycott of Hezbollah MPs and the representatives of the Free Patriotic Movement of MP Michel Aoun

Lebanon's constitution stipulates that two third of the 128 parliament members should be present to elect a president in the first round of voting, and a simple majority for the following round.

The country has been without a president since former President Michel Suleiman's tenure ended on May 25, 2014. Endit