Timmermans |
Until now, the EU had resisted
pressure from Washington and Israel to blacklist Hezbollah, arguing such
a move could fuel instability in Lebanon, where the group is part of
the government, and add to tensions in the Middle East.
But evidence from Bulgaria about the attack and concerns over
Hezbollah's growing involvement in the war in Syria persuaded opponents
to back the move, which triggers the freezing of any assets the group's
armed wing may hold in the 28-nation EU."It is good that the EU has decided to call Hezbollah what it is: a terrorist organization," Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers who decided on the blacklisting.
"We took this important step today, by dealing with the military wing of Hezbollah, freezing its assets, hindering its fundraising and thereby limiting its capacity to act."
As far as I know the evidence that Bulgaria produced for Hezbollah's involvement in this bombing affair was far from convincing. What the EU did in fact was blacklisting the resistance to Israel in South-Lebanon, as Hezbollah is the only force there to be reckoned with. Apart from that, it is ludicrous to separate the 'military arm' from Hezbollah's political one, as the two are one. One does not have to be a supporter of Hezbollah (take for instance their present involvement in Syria) to see that what the EU did was in fact follow the wishes of Israel. That a fellow Dutchman, minister Frans Timmermans, thus played the Israeli card is not exactly something that makes me happy. Apart from everything else, it cannot be denied that Hezbollah plays an important role in Lebanese politics and that EU is thus creating obstacles for itself as far as relations with Lebanon are concerned.
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