Britain has asked the European Union to put Hezbollah’s military wing on the EU list of terrorist organizations.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said in London: “We are calling for Europe to respond collectively and robustly following the atrocious terrorist attack at Burgas airport and in light of the recent conviction of an Hezbollah operative in Cyprus.”
He was referring to the bombing of a bus carrying Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian coastal resort in July 2012 that killed five Israelis and the Bulgarian driver, and to last month’s Cyprus court conviction of Hossam Taleb Yaacoub,a confessed Hezbollah operative, who was active in terrorist surveillance of Israeli tourists on the Mediterranean island.
Bulgaria presented the results of its bomb probe to EU foreign Ministers in February, urging them to take a harder stance towards Hezbollah for its involvement in the terror attack.
"We firmly believe that an appropriate EU response would be to designate Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organisation. This would be in line with our national proscription of Hezb0llah’s military wing," the Foreign Office spokesperson said.
Putting Hezbollah's military arm on the EU's terror list would make it harder for the group to operate in Europe and would help prevent "any future attacks by this terrorist organization on European soil," he added.
“We continue to work closely with our European partners on this issue to reach a robust, collective EU position."
Hezbollah’s increasing role in the Syrian conflict in support of President Assad’s regime is considered as one of the motives that led Britain to make the formal request to its EU partners.
The British demand means EU Member States must discuss the issue at a closed-door session of a special committee that examines the case for blacklisting an individual or group.
Any decision to add Hezbollah to the EU terror list must be supported by all 27 member states based on concrete legal evidence. Until now several countries – including France, Germany, Sweden and Italy –have been reluctant to make such a move for fear it could destabilize Lebanon where Hezbollah plays a role in the government.
The meeting of the EU committee is likely to take place June 4. London wants a EU decision later in June
A decision to ban Hezbollah in Europe would mean a freeze of the Lebanese group's accounts and funding, hitting its operations and terrorist activities on the continent.
The US, Israel, Canada and the Netherlands are the only countries which currently list Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation in its entirety — both its political and military wings.
Britain and Australia list Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist group.