France and Italy will seek to build an international coalition to support Lebanon after the current United Nations peacekeeping mission UNIFIL ends, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron announced.
"As you know, the UNIFIL mission ends at the end of the year, and we believe it is necessary to ensure an international presence that prevents an extremely dangerous security vacuum," Meloni told a news conference after a bilateral summit in Antibes on Thursday.
Meloni said Rome and Paris had agreed to launch a coalition to support Lebanon after the end of the UN mission and were considering convening an international conference to advance the initiative.
According to Macron, the priority was to strengthen Lebanon's sovereignty and its armed forces while preventing its territory from becoming a launching point for wider regional conflict.
He said discussions with Lebanese authorities would be needed to establish a broad coalition and define its mandate, adding it was too early to say whether it would take the form of a multinational force alongside the Lebanese army or a new UN mission.
The UN Security Council decided in August 2025 to end the UNIFIL mission, established in 1978 to monitor the border area between Israel and Lebanon. The Lebanese army is expected to assume responsibility after its withdrawal.
The European Union is already planning a separate civilian and military support mission for Lebanon's armed forces and police.
