Lebanon received increased support from the international community Thursday with France opening a 400 million euro ($492 million) line of credit to the country's army and security forces, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said.
“France provided this credit line, which is about 400 million euros and can be used by the Lebanese army and security forces to buy equipment. We are very satisfied with these results,” Hariri said while thanking Paris at the Rome II Conference.
He also thanked the representatives of other countries “for recognizing that Lebanon’s stability and security is necessary for the region and the world.
“I am confident this support will translate soon into concrete steps.”
Hariri said more discussions would be held to clarify the amounts pledged by each of the 40 countries at the Rome II Conference, which will be followed by two further meetings in Paris and Brussels.
"This conference is important because we in Lebanon were the first to oust ISIS out of our soil -- we were able to do it with very little capabilities," Hariri said.
"Israel remains the primary threat to Lebanon, its daily violations to our sovereignty must stop," he added.
France announced earlier in the month that it would provide 14 million euros to Lebanon's army, mostly in the form of anti-tank equipment.
