EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to set up a new civilian and military mission in Lebanon to strengthen the country's security forces, as the United Nations prepares to end its long-running peacekeeping operation there.
The mission, which could deploy within months, will focus on border and maritime security, counter-drone operations and training Lebanese security forces. Its precise mandate, staffing and command structure have yet to be finalised.
Unlike the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), whose mandate expires at the end of 2026, the EU mission will not be deployed in the south, where Israel is continuing its military campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
"We will establish a new mission in Lebanon. It has a civilian and military pillar," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Monday.
"We hope that this mission will be ready to work on the ground already, in a couple of months. I was just in Lebanon last week. This is highly welcomed by the local authorities," she added.
The decision comes as Lebanon faces an uncertain security future following the planned withdrawal of UNIFIL, which has served as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has called for the UN operation's mandate to be extended.
Israel has long criticised UNIFIL as ineffective in containing Hezbollah, while the United States has also questioned its role, favouring a security arrangement directly between Israel and Lebanon.
EU officials insist the new mission is not intended to replace UNIFIL, but to strengthen Lebanon's own security capabilities.
"It will have a number of tasks to carry out over a period of up to three years, namely strengthening border security, ensuring maritime security and combating drones. In both its military and civilian aspects, the mission will support the Lebanese police in their day-to-day duties," said Jean-Noël Barrot, France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Brussels is considering deploying around 150 personnel, a fraction of the roughly 7,500 peacekeepers currently serving with UNIFIL.
The mission is expected to operate under the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), with an initial mandate of up to three years, subject to renewal. Contributions of personnel and equipment by member states will be voluntary.
It remains unclear which countries will participate, although several existing UNIFIL contributors – including Italy, France, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Finland and Poland – have expressed interest in maintaining a presence in Lebanon.
The command structure is another unresolved issue. One proposal under discussion would see leadership rotate between Italy, France and Spain.
In June, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that their countries would jointly lead an international coalition to support Lebanon following UNIFIL's withdrawal. It is not yet clear whether that initiative will operate separately or be incorporated into the EU mission.
Ireland, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, has also signalled its intention to participate.
Dublin is prepared to contribute to the civilian component, although its involvement in the military mission could be complicated by ongoing reforms to the legal framework governing overseas deployments of Irish troops.
"We have been there for decades. We have contributed to supporting the region, supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces, but in particular the civilian population for decades. And I would not like to see that being lost," said Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee.
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Monday defended a diesel oil deal he made with Russia as lawmakers from both parties complained the agreement appears to
Student protests gripping France for three weeks rumbled on Monday, though authorities hoped they were starting to ease ahead of half-term holidays — even as the country braced for fresh nationwide demonstrations. – Tuesday demonstration – Macron's appeal went out ahead of nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday being promoted online by the far-left France Unbowed party fiercely opposed to Macron.
KYIV, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Russia hit at least six energy targets during a night and morning of deadly airstrikes across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday, adding this showed Moscow had no interest in an energy ceasefire announced by Donald Trump. Under pressure over high energy prices ahead of US midterm elections next month, US President Trump blindsided Kyiv and its European allies over the weekend by declaring that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to hit each other's ene
LONDON, Oct 12 () – British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Monday that a suspected plot targeting the RAF Fairford air base in Britain was "highly likely" to have been coordinated in Iran, and almost certainly directed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The RAF Fairford base had been used by US bombers to carry out strikes on Iran but last week, US President Donald Trump said a threat linked to Iran had prompted the removal of the planes.
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) – US authorities conducted a predawn raid on Monday on the Washington-area home of Democratic US Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump who has been the target of political insults by the Republican president, as part of an ongoing investigation, the Justice Department said. A person familiar with the investigation said it is related to alleged immigration fraud, and part of the probe concerns the Somali-born lawmaker's immigra
KYIV, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Ukraine expects the European Union to approve opening the second and third stages of its accession talks on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Monday.
Two paintings by impressionist master Pierre-Auguste Renoir, stolen from a museum in southern France and later discovered hidden behind a wall, have sustained slight damage, prosecutors said on Monday.- 'Completely undetectable' – The paintings were hidden behind a solid cinder-block wall and concealed so well that they were discovered only during a second search.
Oct 12 (Reuters) – Authorities have extended the closure of Riyadh's international airport until Saturday and airlines scrapped flights after continuing attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis emptied the skies over Saudi Arabia's capital. Operations at King Khalid International Airport, Saudi Arabia's second-busiest airport after Jeddah, were suspended to "allow for the completion of procedures to ensure the safety and operational readiness of the airport's facilities", the Saudi civil aviat
By Joshua McElwee VATICAN CITY, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Pope Leo will go into hospital on Tuesday before surgery to remove a small growth found on one of his lungs, the Vatican said, as the pontiff kept up
Russia does not want to accept an "energy ceasefire" in Ukraine announced by Donald Trump, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, accusing Moscow of attacking six sites Monday. "It is increasingly evident that Russia is unwilling to accept an energy ceasefire proposed by the United States," Zelensky said on social media.
The Iran war was supposed to be short and sharp. Instead, the US is enmeshed in a conflict that’s upending oil and gas and pushing some countries toward clean energy
Americans Robert Hall and Michael Woodford were awarded the Nobel economics prize Monday for their work on how monetary and fiscal policy can better stabilise disruptive economic fluctuations.A concrete example of his work implemented in practice was when the 2008 financial crisis created a situation where "traditional tools of monetary policy were not really adequate to deal with the problem of restoring economic activity," Woodford told reporters via phone during the announcement of the prize,
Federal officers early on Monday executed a search warrant related to Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota congresswoman who has been the persistent target of ire from President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Texas gave his GOP foe a snarky butt kickin’.
US federal agents searched the Washington home of Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Monday as part of a criminal investigation, officials said, marking a dramatic escalation in President Donald Trump's confrontation with the outspoken lawmaker.US media quoted the Justice Department confirming that agents had carried out a court-authorized search in the Washington area, but officials did not identify Omar or disclose the nature of the investigation.
WARSAW, Oct 12 (Reuters) – A mass deployment of police to Polish schools has helped calm tensions, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday, after three stabbing attacks in four days sparked fears of copycat violence. Authorities have dismissed rumours that the attacks were linked to an online challenge or organised group.
BRUSSELS, Oct 12 () – European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Nov. 20 for an EU-UK summit, the European Council said on Monday.
Major French supermarket chains on Monday said they had been hit by a cyberattack that caused their refrigerators to defrost in hundreds of stores, forcing spoilt food to be thrown away and raising concerns about food security.BFM TV said hackers "managed to remotely trigger the forced defrosting of the refrigeration systems in numerous stores".
Oct 12 (Reuters) – More than 149,000 homes and businesses in Florida were without power on Monday after Hurricane Isaias swept through the U.S. Southeast, according to data from PowerOutage.us.
By Arpan Chaturvedi, Shivangi Acharya and Saurabh Sharma NEW DELHI, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Police used excessive and targeted force on journalists covering youth-led protests in India, local press groups and international media rights bodies said, and warned that press freedom in the country was under threat. Young Indians, mobilised by the "cockroach" youth movement and supported by opposition parties, took to the streets of New Delhi on the weekend demanding the resignation of India's Chief Elec
About the Author
