EU pledges additional 43 mln euros to Lebanon

Christos Stylianides (L), the visiting European commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam, in Beirut, Lebanon, on Nov 2, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIRUT -- The European Union (EU) decided to increase its assistance to Lebanon with an additional amount of 43 million euros ($47.3 million) to ease the Syrian refugee crisis, an EU official said on Monday.

"Since my last visit to Lebanon 10 months ago, the situation has changed severely. We must face it together. It is no longer local or regional, but global," Christos Stylianides, the visiting European commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, was quoted by the National News Agency as saying.

He pointed out that "the partnership between the EU and Lebanon was solid in various fields, namely in investments and regional diplomacy. This partnership is also reflected in the steady financial support to Lebanon."

He added that the EU has granted a total of 550 million euros (about $606 million) in aid to Lebanon since the beginning of the refugee crisis."

According to the UN Higher Commission for Refugees, Lebanon hosts more than 1.1 million Syrians who fled their country since the Syrian crisis began in 2011.