Emmanuel Macron returns to Lebanon to capitalize on the weakening of Hezbollah

Four years after his unsuccessful visits to reform Lebanon, Emmanuel Macron returns Friday to a country favorably affected by the new regional situation. The weakening of Hezbollah following the war imposed on it by Israel and the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria made it possible to break a paralyzing political impasse.

After two years of vacancy in the post, Lebanon finally has a President of the Republic, in the person of the commander-in-chief of the army, General Joseph Aoun, whom France knows well. In the process, a week ago, a technocrat, Nawaf Salam, jurist at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, also appreciated in Paris, was appointed Prime Minister, that is to say holder of the main powers in the Lebanese confessional system. Each time, and unlike in the past, Hezbollah and its allies ended up rallying around this new executive tandem, which embodies hope for…