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How Will Terror List Decision Affect EU-Hezbollah Ties?

The European Union’s decision to add Hezbollah’s military wing to the list of terrorist organizations could compromise key security coordination between the two sides.
An Indonesian soldier from the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) uses his walkie-talkie as he stands near a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in the southern Lebanese village of Adaisseh July 24, 2013. Europe's decision to blacklist Hezbollah's "military wing" was triggered by the Lebanese movement's growing role in Syria, but the partial ban may have little practical impact due to fears of destabilising Lebanon and the wider Middle East.    REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (

The Americans and Israelis’ success in pushing the EU to finally include the military wing of Hezbollah on the list of terrorist organizations was something of a surprise to the party. It would have been a complete surprise had the EU regarded both Hezbollah's military and political wings as terrorist organizations.

Within the party, there is an assumption backed by reliable data that the EU decision is at best a compromise between the unbridled desire of the US to include Hezbollah on the list of terrorist organizations, and the desire of Europeans to mitigate US pressure exerted on them in this respect.

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