A French foreign ministry official was quoted as saying France was considering to officially recognize Hezbollah a terror organization if the Bulgarian probe into the Burgas terror attack proves link to the Lebanese Shiite group.
The attack on a bus on July 19, 2012 killed five Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian bus driver in the Black Sea Bulgarian resort.
According to Lebanon’s Al-Nahar newspaper, which quotes french foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot, if the Bulgarian probe introduces solid evidence pointing to Hezbollah's involvement in the terror attack, the European Union will unanimously back a decision to add the group on its list of terror organizations. Such a move that would enable the EU to freeze Hezbollah's assets in Europe.
Unanimity of the 27 member states is needed for such a decision. France was the main EU country which until now has resisted blacklisting Hezbollah because of its traditional close relations with Lebanon.
EU Foreign Ministers, who are to meet on Monday in Brussels, are expected to hear a report on the investigation by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov.
Lalliot said that though the issue was not on the ministerial agenda, the ministers could discuss it should one of the EU ministers propose to do so.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov on Friday reiterated that two of the terrorists who carried out the bombing attack on the bus are Hezbollah operatives.
"The Burgas bombers were maintaining part of Hezbollah's structures in Canada and Australia and had contacts with other representatives of this organization," he said in an interview with TV7.
The minister added that investigators know the names of the attackers and are following them through Europe.
British Foreign Minister William Hague called this week on the European Union to take "robust action" in response to the bombing.
He urged the EU "to ensure that organizations like Hezbollah can't carry out attacks on European soil without consequences."
Only two EU countries currently label Hezbollah a terrorist organisation : Holland since 2004 and Britain which blacklists the group’s military wing.
Holland has said that the EU should follow the lead of the United States, which designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in the 1990s.
Canada also urged the EU to blacklist Hezbollah.
“We believe there is overwhelming evidence to suggest Hezbollah has been not just complicit, but actively carrying out terrorist attacks around the world in support of Iran,” a government official was quoted as saying. “We hope that the European Union will follow Canada’s lead.”
At this week’s UN Security Council meeting on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor renewed his call for Hezbollah to be designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union.
“Make no mistake: Hezbollah’s sole purpose is to commit terrorist acts both inside and outside the Middle East,” Prosor said.
He said “calling Hezbollah a charity is like calling al-Qaida an urban-planning organization because of its desire to level tall buildings.”