The European Union on Monday agreed to adopt a sanctions regime for Lebanese leaders by the end of July, France said, in an effort to force a stable government to emerge from nearly a year of political chaos following the Beirut blast.
“There was a moment ago a political consensus to put in place a legal sanctions framework before the end of the month, before the anniversary of the Beirut port explosion,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters in Brussels after a meeting with his EU counterparts.
“Lebanon has been in self-destruct mode for several months,” Le Drian said. “Now there is a major emergency situation for a population that is in distress.”
Nearly a year after the Aug. 4 explosion, which killed more than 200 people, wounded thousands and devastated swathes of the capital, Lebanon is still headed by a caretaker government, frustrating French efforts to encourage a new government.
“To the Lebanese authorities, we repeat the need that there is to form a government, to carry out the reforms necessary to exit this tragedy that they’re in,” Le Drian added.
Criteria for EU sanctions such as travel bans and assets freezes for Lebanese politicians are likely to include corruption, obstructing efforts to form a government, financial misdeeds and human rights abuses, according to a diplomatic note seen by Reuters.
Since days after the explosion, French President Emmanuel Macron has tried to pressure and cajole Lebanese leaders to form a technocratic government that would be able to rebuild the capital and save the country’s economy from collapse.
The crisis is bringing regular life to a near halt. Businesses are shutting down, pharmacies have gone on strikes because they can’t secure imported medicines. Fuel shortages have forced hospitals and the country’s only airport to ration their use, shutting down air conditioning and lights in some parts. A marathon for vaccination against COVID-19 scheduled for Saturday and Sunday was postponed because many of the centers that planned to take part had no fuel to operate their generators or internet.
The World Bank has called Lebanon’s crisis one of the worst the world has seen in the past 150 years.
As the crisis deepens, tempers are fraying. Protesters set up road blocks at major intersections in the capital Beirut to object to the political class’s continued bickering and worsening conditions. At long queues in gas stations, some motorists fired their guns in the air in anger.
