Francisco Acosta First Secretary for the EU Commission’s Delegation in Lebanon

What effect do you expect Rafik Hariri’s assassination to have on EU-Lebanese relations, and indeed on Lebanon’s ties to Europe? What measure would the EU like to see taken so as to stabilize the present fragile situation? The full consequences of Mr. Hariri’s death remain to be seen, but it is beyond doubt that the European Union has lost a fundamental mediator between Lebanon and the EU, and a tremendously valuable one at that. Mr. Hariri believed in the importance of these relations. At present, we find ourselves devoid of any mediator. Mr. Hariri was a pillar of the free market economy and he gave investors confidence. Investors and the international markets in general will now be paying close attention to what type of an economy emerges following his death. The European investors in Lebanon are not many – we are only talking about a few companies – but they