The Resolution Was Adopted At The European Parliament In Strasbourg, France The Implication Is That All 25 Member States Of The EU Must Relate To Hezbollah As a Terrorist Organization This Includes France, Which Until Now Has Opposed This Move
The resolution was passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 473 in favor and 8 against, with 33 abstentions. The wording of the resolution says, ‘The European Parliament considers that clear evidence exists of terrorist activities by Hezbollah. The (EU) Council should take all necessary steps to curtail them.’
To date, key European states such as Britain, France and Spain refrained from declaring Hezbollah a terror organization; this enabled Hezbollah to operate within their territory.
The new step will make it much more difficult for Hezbollah to recruit activists and terrorists in Europe and campaign for funds to finance the Hezbollah operations in Lebanon and other regions.In Europe, the hope is that the resolution will also put a final stop to the broadcast of incitement on the El-Manar TV network which is run by Hezbollah and which is very popular among the Muslim communities in Europe. “El-Manar”, which is carried on satellite, preaches terrorism in its telecast. The EU calls for the imposing of sanctions on Hezbollah until it stops its terrorist activities.
In addition, the EU called upon Syria to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon.