Austrian parliament votes to designate Hezbollah as terrorist group

The Austrian Parliament on Friday passed a resolution calling to designate Lebanon’s Hezbollah a “terrorist organisation”.

The resolution, which was passed unanimously, called on the government to take action against the party and its supporters, and to change its policy that distinguishes between the military and political arms of the movement.

Parliament has also called on Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s administration to advocate on the EU level to designate Hezbollah as a “terrorist organisation”.

Israeli Foreign Minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, yesterday welcomed the decision, saying he hoped that Austria would adopt the parliamentary decision and join “the U.K., Germany, and the Netherlands who recognized Hezbollah as a whole as a terror organization”.

“In the lead to this decision, like similar decisions made in Europe in recent months, was significant diplomatic work by foreign ministers leading an inter-agency effort to combat Hezbollah in the international political arena,” he explained.

Last month, Germany adopted a resolution prohibiting all Hezbollah activities within its territories and designated the entire movement “a terror group”.

MEMO