Lebanese President Calls for Strengthening National Unity to Face Regional Challenges

Beirut, September 22 (KUNA) -- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stressed on Tuesday the need to fortify national unity to confront challenges and mitigate their repercussions in the region, emphasizing that “no settlements will be made at Lebanon’s expense.” The Lebanese presidency said in a statement that President Aoun, addressing visitors at the Baabda Presidential Palace, underscored that “our nation cannot be built by a single group, a single sect, or a single party, and our destiny is to live together.” He noted that “hatred does not build a nation, and division serves only those who want Lebanon to remain weak, whereas dialogue builds trust among the sons of one homeland.”

He pointed out that Lebanon, with its abundant energies and assets, “is capable of rising as soon as its people decide to rely on one another rather than on external actors, to speak in a single language—the language of Lebanon—and to place their country’s interests above all else.”

President Aoun also stressed the importance of raising awareness and fostering mutual understanding among the youth “free from hatred, because hatred breeds more hatred, blood begets blood, a kind word leads to another kind word, dialogue leads to more dialogue, and communication eliminates tensions, paving the way toward achieving the Lebanon we all desire.”

President Aoun had previously received Bishara Al-Assmar, head of the General Federation of Labor, who told reporters after the meeting that he had briefed the president on “the pressurized atmosphere experienced by the labor movement in both the public and private sectors amid the difficult economic situation.” Al-Assmar stressed the necessity of “forming a ministerial economic cell that meets regularly to monitor and address files, thereby defusing tensions in the streets, which are suffering economically and security-wise due to events in the south.” (End) A.Y.B. / N.S.A.