Belgium rejects putting Hezbollah on EU terror list

The Belgian Foreign Ministry has rejected the idea of classifying Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation but is open to penalties against parts of it, the Jerusalem Post writes. “We believe that it could make sense, instead of qualifying Hezbollah as a whole, to isolate armed subgroups, or individuals. This method has proven its merits, and deserves a try,” Michel Malherbe, a spokesman for the Belgian ministry, told the Jerusalem Post yesterday. “Belgium is of course not naive. We don’t have our own personnel on site, yet we perfectly realise that Hezbollah has, to say the least, a dubious, shady side. However, we also know that we can only weigh on the situation through a coherent European position. To that end, we will not increase polarisation among the 27 member states of the EU, but, to the contrary, reinforce the majority view,” he added. “Affecting that European view is the fact that Hezbollah is also a player on the political scene in Lebanon. Syria is already in flames; condemning Hezbollah in its totality could aggravate the regional situation. You may also be aware that Belgium still contributes troops to Unifil,” the UN force in southern Lebanon.