Kallas in Beirut to Test European Alternative After UNIFIL

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arrived in Beirut less than three months before UNIFIL's mandate expires on Dec. 31, amid the absence of a final formula to prevent a security vacuum. Brussels is working on a European mission to train, advise and support the Lebanese army, but Kallas stressed it is not an alternative to UNIFIL, whose monitoring, mediation and de-escalation tasks a training mission cannot perform. France and Italy are pushing for an international coalition or a European-led formula after UNIFIL, while questions remain over mandate, deployment and rules of engagement. The report warns southern Lebanon could face a dangerous security vacuum if European support is limited to training without progress on Israeli withdrawal and political arrangements.