EU, Lebanon sign $38M donation package

BEIRUT: A high-ranking European Union official met with Prime Minister Tammam Salam Wednesday after signing an agreement for the EU to make two donations to Lebanon totaling 34 million euros ($38.13 million).

Commissioner for European Neighborhood and Enlargement Policy Johannes Hahn discussed regional politics and mutual relations with Salam in a meeting at the Grand Serail, the prime minister’s media office said in a statement.

The meeting came after Hahn signed over two donation agreements to “support Lebanon’s stability and its marine resources,” during a ceremony that gathered the ambassadors of EU member states and Lebanese officials.

In addition to Salam, Cabinet ministers Nouhad Machnouk and Mohammad Machnouk were in attendance.

The agreement was signed by the head of the Council for Development and Reconstruction Nabil al-Jisr on Lebanon’s behalf.

The first of the donations, worth 15 million euros, is geared toward helping Lebanon’s security forces secure the borders, organize the influx of immigrants, facilitate trade and fight organized crime.

It also includes funds to train Lebanese police officers in professional conduct, including methods to deal with members of underprivileged groups and how to respond to emergencies related to chemical or nuclear radiation.

The second donation, worth 19 million euros, is geared toward supporting biological diversity in Lebanon’s maritime ecosystem.

Goals for the ecosystem project include: cleaning the remaining 2600 cubic meters of waters that were polluted by an oil spill caused by the Israeli strike on the Jiyyeh power plant during the 2006 war, carrying out preparations for oil and gas exploration operations at sea, reducing sources of pollution in coastal areas, healing the damaged marine ecosystems and developing biological diversity on the coasts and at sea.

The donations came following a memorandum that Lebanon and the EU signed in October 2014, in which the two sides pledged collaboration.