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Tajani’s talks in Lebanon come on the same day he met Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in his first visit to Damascus since the fall last year of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has met with Lebanon’s newly-elected President Joseph Aoun in Beirut.After their meeting, Tajani praised Aoun’s leadership, saying that a president with a “very influential personality” would help contribute towards peace in the region.Speaking at the Italian Embassy, Tajani said Lebanon’s stability could help enforce the ceasefire and contribute to efforts to establish a ceasefire in Gaza.”I think that the stability of Lebanon will strengthen ceasefires in the south of the country and will also help, I think, speed up the ceasefire in Gaza. There are hostages, there are too many dead, and so, either for the Palestinian population or for the hostages, we must hurry,” he told reporters.Tajani also held a video call with officers and soldiers of the Italian battalion serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).Italy maintains a contingent of approximately 1,067 troops within UNIFIL, including the Italair unit, a joint forces team operating helicopters.Italair is staffed primarily by personnel from the Italian Army, with contributions from the Navy and Air Force.Established in 1979, it is Italy’s longest-serving international mission unit, consistently supporting UN activities in Lebanon.In December, Tajani condemned an attack on a UNIFIL base which wounded four Italian peacekeepers.The base was hit by rockets allegedly fired by Hezbollah or its affiliates during a year of hostilities between the militant group and Israel which ended with a ceasefire in late November last year.That attack was also criticised by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.UNIFIL is an international mission established by the United Nations Security Council in 1978 to restore peace and security in southern Lebanon, near the Israeli border.Tajani’s talks with Aoun in Beirut come on the same day he met Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in his first visit to Damascus since the fall last year of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad.Al-Sharaa took office as the head of the new Syrian administration after the lightning rebel offensive which toppled al-Assad’s regime in December.Tajani also held discussions with Syria’s Foreign Minister, Asaad al-Shaibani.”Italy is ready to do its part to encourage the reform process in Syria,” Tajani said in Damascus, pointing out that Italy reopened its embassy in Damascus last year.”We want to relaunch economic cooperation in crucial sectors. We want to be a bridge between the new Syria and the EU.”
