Ashton Cancels Meetings with Salam, Mansour to Visit UNIFIL Headquarters
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met kicked off her second day official visit to Beirut by meeting with President Michel Suleiman at the Baabda Palace.
Ashton reportedly canceled her scheduled meetings with Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam and Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to visit UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura instead.
The EU chief, accompanied by EU Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst, also held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri at Ain el-Tineh.
On Monday, the EU official discussed with Caretaker PM Najib Miqati the “current situation in Lebanon and the region and ties with the European Union.”
The meeting was followed by a dinner banquet in honor of the visiting European official, Miqati's office said.
Ashton's meetings are expected to focus on the influx of Syrian refugees into Lebanon and the repercussions of the Syria crisis on the country.
The official is said to announce a new figure of European aid to Lebanon and neighboring countries, taking into consideration the probability of an upsurge in refugees following the escalating confrontations in Syria that could even grow stronger in the next three months.
The United Nations Higher Council for Refugees said Sunday that the number of Syrians who fled their war-torn country to Lebanon has exceeded 530,000 after an increase of 19,000 in a week.
In its latest report on Syrian refugees, the U.N. agency said more than 455,000 Syrian refugees have registered with U.N. offices in Lebanon while over 75,000 others are waiting for their registration process to complete.
The registered refugees are benefiting from aid provided by the U.N., the Lebanese government and various non-governmental aid agencies, according to the report.
Lebanon has called on the international community to help bear its burden of hosting the Syrian refugees, who are expected to exceed 1 million by the end of the year.
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