Morcos: "I requested the European Union to support Lebanon in protecting journalists and ensuring their safety."

Minister of Information, Dr. Paul Morcos, on Wednesday received- at his invitation- the Head of the European Union Delegation to Lebanon, Sandra De Waele, at the head of a delegation that included the Ambassadors of the Netherlands, Frank Mollen; Cyprus, Maria Hadjitheodosiou; Belgium, Arnout Pauwel; Bulgaria, Yassen Tomov; Deputy Head of Mission of Sweden, Christian Nelson; Media Attaché Madonna Hakim, representing the Italian Ambassador; and a representative of the Polish Embassy.
Minister Morcos presented the European Union mission and the European ambassadors with a memorandum of protest over the Israeli attacks against journalists and civilians, calling on them to support Lebanon in its efforts to protect journalists and ensure their safety while covering the war in Lebanon.

Following the meeting, Minister Morcos said, "Today, at my invitation, we received Her Excellency the EU Ambassador to Lebanon, who kindly responded, along with a number of European ambassadors and representatives of European embassies.

The meeting focused on Israeli attacks against civilians in general, and journalists in particular. I conveyed to them a protest position, expressing condemnation of these attacks and rejection of their recurrence. I also asked for their support within the international community to back Lebanon's principled stance on this issue. They generally expressed their commitment to international humanitarian law."

For his part, the Belgian Ambassador Pauwel stressed that journalists should never be targeted, saying international humanitarian law is very clear on this matter.