BRUSSELS: Ending months of hesitation, the European Union opened the door yesterday to adding the military wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah to its list of international terrorist groups, EU diplomats said.
A formal request to blacklist Lebanon’s most powerful political and military group was filed by Britain and is to be discussed at closed-door talks June 4 of a committee overseeing the EU list of people and groups subject to its asset freezing regime.
“We hope to have an agreement by the end of June on Hezbollah,” said a diplomat close to the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A decision to add the Shia militia to the dozen people and score of groups currently blacklisted by the EU — including Hamas and Colombia’s FARC guerrillas — will require unanimity from the 27 EU states.
Despite months of strong and steady pressure from Israel and the US to follow their example and designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group, the EU has up until now skirted an issue seen as sensitive and divisive, with Britain openly in favour but France and Italy reluctant.
As the former colonial power, France fears destabilising politically fragile Lebanon, where Hezbollah is the leading political group and part of the government, while heading a militia more powerful than the country’s army.
There was concern too from France, Italy and Spain for the safety of national troops committed to the UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL. Italy is a major contributor, making it sensitive to the risk of reprisals, but its position is also based on a view of Hezbollah as a legitimate political force, not merely a military organisation.
Asked just how the EU would differentiate in applying sanctions between members of Hezbollah’s military wing and its political leadership, an EU official said “we cannot comment on such detail.”
But mounting global concern over the Shiite group’s active support of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has finally swayed even the most reluctant EU nations into shifting gear.
“Hezbollah’s role in Syria convinced member states it was time to act,” one diplomat said.
As Hezbollah fighters joined a Syrian government assault on the rebel bastion of Qusayr, President Barack Obama on Monday “stressed his concern about Hezbollah’s active and growing role in Syria. AFP
