Austrian FM: EU ready to help Lebanon if leaders reform

BEIRUT (AP) — Austria’s foreign minister says the European Union wants to help Lebanon escape its economic meltdown – but only if the country’s leaders clean up Beirut’s affairs. Alexander Schallenberg listed some of those reforms Wednesday after meeting his Lebanese counterpart in Beirut. He says Lebanon should reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund, move forward with the investigation into the August 2020 blast at Beirut’s port and restructure the hard-hit banking sector. Lebanon’s economic crisis is one of the worst in the world. It is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by the small country’s political class.