More Than 10 EU States Ready to Contribute to Lebanon Military Training Mission

BRUSSELS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - More than 10 European Union member states are ready to contribute resources and personnel to a planned EU mission to advise and train Lebanon's armed forces, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday.

Speaking after a meeting of European defence ministers in Ireland, Kallas said the proposal was moving forward, but declined to say which countries had signed on. The mission is part of broader European discussion about how to bolster the Lebanese military, especially as the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL prepares for a possible drawdown.

"The EU is not seeking to replace UNIFIL," Kallas told reporters. "Our objective is to strengthen the Lebanese armed forces and the ability of the Lebanese state to provide security across its territory."

An EU official told Reuters that the bloc wants to formally establish the mission in mid-October, with an initial deployment expected in late 2026 or early 2027. That timeline would overlap with preparations for UNIFIL's expected year-long withdrawal, after its mandate expires at the end of 2026.

The mission comes amid growing concern in Western capitals that the Lebanese state is still not strong enough to extend control over areas where Hezbollah remains the dominant armed force. Western countries have long called for the disarmament of the Iran-backed group, and the issue is central to the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel that was meant to end a war which ran in parallel with the U.S.-Israeli confrontation with Iran.

France has been pushing for months to organise an international conference on strengthening Lebanon's military and has suggested creating an international force as part of a long-term replacement for UNIFIL. French officials see the EU training mission as a potential first step, though questions remain about funding, troop contributions and the political conditions on the ground.

Diplomatic expectations, however, are cautious. A senior Western diplomat said on Tuesday there was limited prospect for major decisions on Lebanon's future before Israel's election in late October. The diplomat also said progress would be difficult without a clear strengthening of the Lebanese armed forces and their ability to move into areas previously held by Hezbollah.

The stakes are significant: if the mission is slow to materialise, the security vacuum left by UNIFIL's withdrawal could complicate efforts to keep the border calm. For European governments, the planned training mission is also a test of whether the bloc can offer a credible security alternative in the Middle East as the peacekeeping landscape shifts.