France president Macron, Saudi Arabia's MbS discuss boosting Lebanon support

The leaders of France and Saudi Arabia vowed Sunday to keep up their support for Lebanon, a country gripped by chronic economic and political hardship.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MbS) "expressed a common concern about the situation in Lebanon, and reiterated their determination to work together to help get the country out of the deep crisis it is going through", in a phone call, the French presidency said.

An economic crisis hit Lebanon in 2019, and living standards in the country have since dropped dramatically, with about three-quarters of the population living below the poverty line.

Difficulties were compounded by the Beirut port blast of 2020 that killed more than 200 people and destroyed swathes of the capital city.

The country has also been without a president since November after politicians failed to agree on a successor to Michel Aoun.

Lebanon and Saudi Arabia suffered a diplomatic spat in 2021 when former Lebanese Communications Minister George Kordahi criticised the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.

Ties were restored in April 2022 in the same month France and Saudi Arabia announced a joint development fund for Lebanon.

In 2021 France co-hosted a fundraising conference for Lebanon that pledged $370 million in aid; similar conferences the year before also raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the blast-stricken country.

Lebanon has been courting international aid to help pull it out of its plight, but donor countries have said more aid would be dependent on Beirut reforming its economy and combatting corruption.

A sign of the political divisions in Lebanon was witnessed this weekend when two rival factions announced different daylight saving times.

Macron also praised Saudi Arabia and Iran's decision to resume diplomatic relations.

Macron and MbS have long had a good relationship, despite Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record under the crown prince's de facto rule.

Macron hosted MbS at the Elysee Palace last summer, to the ire of human rights groups.

The French and Saudi leaders also discussed defence and energy cooperation in Sunday’s phone call.