Despite vehement assertions by the terror group Hezbollah that “Hezbollah is a single large organization, we have no wings that are separate from one another”, the EU maintained an artificial distinction between Hezbollah’s military and political wing, listing only its “military wing” as a terrorist entity.
As the Times of Israel points out:
The EU’s decision theoretically prevents all trade and economic activity by terrorist groups on the continent, and denies entry to activists from these organizations. But the EU’s decision applies only to members of the military wing itself — not to all Hezbollah activists.
It sounds somewhat outlandish and bizarre, and were it not so sad it would have been somewhat funny, but apparently the European Union continues to see Hezbollah’s “political” leadership as a legitimate body leading a group of enthusiastic supporters, not thousands of armed warriors fighting on Syrian soil, while trying to carry out attacks against Israeli targets in Europe. Any sanctions against an economic body associated with Hezbollah will need proof tying it to the military wing of the organization. Any attempt to prevent the entry of Hezbollah activists into Europe will be contingent on evidence that they are indeed members of the military wing.
The EU apparently did not internalize that Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s late terror chief, didn’t regularly wander around European capitals with his Hezbollah secret military wing membership card in his pocket.
