Three of Europe’s most powerful countries — Britain, Germany and France — have thrown their weight behind a push for the European Union to designate the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, a move that could have far-reaching consequences for the group’s fund-raising activities on the Continent, reports The New York Times.
On Wednesday, Germany signaled an about-face in its policy toward the group, with a statement saying Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle supported listing “at least the military wing” of the organization as a terrorist group. The announcement came just a day after Britain’s Foreign Office said it would pursue doing the same, promising to “work closely with our European partners on this issue to reach a robust, collective E.U. position.”
France had been undecided, but on Wednesday night Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said it would join Britain and Germany in seeking to have the “military wing” of Hezbollah put on the European Union terrorist list, according to Agence France-Presse.
Mr. Fabius was speaking in Amman, Jordan, after a meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People, a group designed to aid the rebellion against Mr. Assad.
If approved, such a move could choke off sources of funds from Hezbollah’s members and sympathizers throughout Europe, at a time when the group’s image as a liberation movement has already suffered because Hezbollah fighters are battling in Syria on behalf of the government there.
The United States and Israel have long urged their European allies to list the organization either in whole or in part as a terrorist group. But pressure has grown substantially since a bombing in July in Bulgaria killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver. Bulgarian officials have said Hezbollah was behind the attack, which the group denies.
Law enforcement can already pursue Hezbollah for the sorts of criminal activities associated with the group, including smuggling and counterfeiting, but even a partial blacklisting would bring added scrutiny. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency said Hezbollah had 950 members and supporters in the country in 2011, the latest figure available.
Still, many experts question the strategy of simply taking aim at Hezbollah’s military wing, arguing that it is impossible to separate the part of the organization that engages in politics and social services from the group’s large armed militia. Moreover, if only the so-called military wing is blacklisted, the group might still be able raise money in Europe under the banner of politics.
“I don’t know if that makes any sense or you really can say there’s a political wing and a terrorist wing,” said Sylke Tempel, editor in chief of Internationale Politik, the journal published by the German Council on Foreign Relations. “They belong together like my left leg and my right leg.”
Britain expects the European Union’s secretive working group on terrorist designations — known as CP931 — to take up the matter on June 4 and European foreign ministers to consider the proposal and make a decision later in the month. In addition to the Bulgaria bombing, the British government cited the conviction of a Hezbollah operative in Cyprus for planning attacks against Israelis vacationing there as grounds for the change in policy.
While no one was killed in Cyprus, experts said during the trial there that a conviction in a court of law would very likely carry more weight in the European Union’s bureaucratic decision-making process than accusations that the group was behind the deadly bombing in Bulgaria, no matter how well-founded the intelligence.
The shift in stance by Germany, the most populous country in the European Union and its largest economy, signals a significant change in momentum. “The German position is based on an increasingly clearer picture of the facts and on the progress achieved by Cypriot authorities in analyzing terrorist activities,” the statement said. “Minister Westerwelle hopes that the necessary consultations within the E.U. can be concluded rapidly.”
While German backing is critical, such a move would require unanimity among the 27 nations of the European Union, which could be difficult to achieve.
In the past, France and some other countries, like Sweden, have opposed putting Hezbollah on the terrorist blacklist, fearing it could destabilize the Lebanese government.
Read more of this report from The New York Times.