Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis have agreed to hold a conference to mull ways on the return of Syrian refugees to their country.
The announcement was made during a visit made by Bassil on Wednesday to the Czech Republic where he met with Babis and the country's foreign minister, Tomas Petricek.
A Lebanese Foreign Ministry statement said that discussions focused mainly on the Syrian refugee crisis.
The two sides agreed to hold a conference in Prague or Beirut to discuss measures that help displaced Syrians return home.
"This would be immensely useful for both Lebanon and Syria and in general it would be the best solution to the human, humanitarian and political crisis we have right now and which could get worse in the future," said Bassil.
“Lebanon's key national interest is the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland," he told reporters in Prague.
Bassil sympathized with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia's refusal to accept refugee distribution quotas proposed by the EU in the wake of the 2015-16 migrant crisis, when more than a million people streamed into Europe, mostly from war-torn Syria.
He warned that “Lebanon will not be able to guarantee them descent lives. So they will want to go elsewhere. Europe will be their first destination in search for jobs.”
Bassil spoke of the Russian initiative on the return of refugees, saying the plan needs more support.
He said he was working on convincing the United States and the European Union to assist in the repatriation of Syrians.
