Gebran Bassil — lecture in Hungary, “Which Role for the Christians in shaping the Future of the Middle East?”, 31 March 2025 (FPM-official English text)

We, the Free Patriotic Movement, have tried to reflect the concerns of our community, whilst working on the consolidation of the Lebanese institutions.

We have always believed that our political efficiency hinges on our independence and autonomy, in contrast with other Lebanese political parties beholden to foreign powers or to foreign agendas. […] We, at FPM are proud of our independence, especially when we witness the sad end game of the alignment of some parties behind an axis or another. This has caused us lately new occupation of our southern lands by the Isralei forces on one hand and a new hegemony on our political national decisions on another hand.

[…] In Lebanon, we paid such a heavy price due to the blind alignment of some. Lives were lost in internecine wars, and generations were lost fighting for others […]. Both Christian and Muslim communities bear a responsibility in the current predicament in our country. Our youth is emigrating en masse, as we are massively overwhelmed by more than two and a half million Syrians displaced and Palestinian refugees on our territory.

Given the current circumstances, the Christian communities in Lebanon have three main goals to pursue […]: 1. Remaining faithful to their role in the lebanese political and social fabric, mainly via the preservation of the Lebanese pluralistic and democratic model of Nation State. 2. Avoiding the internal and domestic struggles […] as Christians are a hyphen, a link, that gives its meaning to the model of "vivre ensemble" that we have erected. 3. […] steadfastly keep championing democracy, human rights, freedoms of thought and speech, as well as religious dialogue, liberal economic, development and innovation.

Neutrality in international relations is not only just a status. […] Neutrality is about positioning oneself outside alignments and geopolitical confrontation. It is not easy, as it is contingent upon a change in the mindset of the population and a readiness from your neighbors to accept your neutrality and to stop meddling in your internal affairs.

[…] A fully sovereign Lebanon, having healed its traumas, open to the world through its diplomacy and its diaspora and non-aligned with any of the competing blocs, is an asset for the future of the region.

[…] Tomorrow, Lebanese Christians will play a central role in the establishment of a lasting peace, respectful of all, according to the arab peace plan adopted in Beirut.