BICOM

Israeli President Shimon Peres will call publicly on the European Union to proscribe Hezbollah, in a speech to the European Parliament today. Support has been growing within the EU for proscribing the group after a Bulgarian inquiry published last month directly implicated the Shia Lebanese group in a terror attack in Burgas, which killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver last summer. However, some states, including France, continue to argue against proscription. Peres reportedly urged France to change its stance in a meeting with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius yesterday. Britain favours proscription specifically of the organisation’s military structures, in line with measures already in place in the UK.

The United States has also been pressing the EU to proscribe Hezbollah in full. Senior US Treasury official David Cohen told US Senators on Thursday, “We are pressing the EU, pressing member states of the EU to get that done. Not going to predict what the EU will do, but you can be sure that we’re pressing them very, very hard to get that accomplished.”

Ireland’s minister for defence, justice and equality, Alan Shatter, weighed into the debate yesterday during a visit to Lebanon. Whilst noting that any decision about proscription should be made after the final outcome of investigations in Bulgaria, Shatter told the Lebanese Daily Star that the distinction between Hezbollah’s military and political wings is “invalid”, and rejected any comparison with the distinction that existed between the IRA and Sinn Fein.

Currently Hezbollah can raise funds in most EU countries without any restrictions. Whilst proscription of the military wing would lead to increased scrutiny of the organisation, it would not be nearly as effective as a blanket proscription in stopping Hezbollah financial activities in Europe. As well as its suspected terror activities, Hezbollah is also accused by the US of involvement in organised crime in Europe.