Hezbollah Dismisses EU Terror Designation
Although Hezbollah claimed indifference to the EU listing, many fear the GCC may follow suit, with negative consequences for Lebanese communities in the Gulf.
After months of consultations and deliberate consideration, the European Union decided to designate Hezbollah's military wing as a "terror entity." As predicted in Al-Monitor in February 2013, the Europeans adopted the British approach to the organization, wherein a distinction is made between its military and political bodies to allow for future contacts with the Lebanese group's political leaders — despite Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah declaring on May 25 that there is no military wing and no political wing, only one Hezbollah.
In a statement, Hezbollah expressed “its firm rejection to the EU's decision to set [the] 'military wing' on the list of terrorism,” adding that it regards the move as an “aggressive and unjust decision that has no justification and is not based on any proof.”
The group also asserted, “it looks as if the decision was written by American hands and with 'Israeli' ink, while the EU only had to add its signature in approval.” Apparently keen to differentiate between the EU decision and the people of Europe, it stressed that the decision does not “reflect the EU people's interests” and “contradicts with its values and aspirations that support the principles of freedom and independence, which it had always advocated.”
Sources close to the group regarded the move as "part of the worldwide war on the resistance bloc," explaining that dividing the group into a military and a political wing reflects the European determination to get around their decision, because they need to talk to Hezbollah, in south Lebanon, in Beirut and many other places.
