Serbia announced on Sept. 13 that it is designating Hezbollah in its entirety as a terror organization.
The move was part of an agreement reached between Serbia, Kosovo and Israel on Sept. 4 in which Israel established diplomatic relations with Kosovo; Kosovo and Serbia will move their embassies to Jerusalem as part of the agreement.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised Serbia’s decision to designate Hezbollah as a terror group.
“There is no doubt that the dominoes are falling on Hizballah’s European operations, where it has continued to plot terrorist attacks, procure military technology, and raise much needed funding,” Pompeo said in a statement. “Recent actions by Germany and Lithuania against Hizballah follow those taken last year by the United Kingdom and Kosovo. The United States continues to call on the European Union and European nations to designate or ban Hizballah in its entirety, and recognize the reality that it is a terrorist organization root and branch with no distinction between its so-called ‘military’ and ‘political’ wings.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic tweeted in response to Pompeo, “We remain firm in our pursuit of peace and stability, thus contributing to overall global security.”
The dominoes are falling on Hizballah’s European operations. Serbia’s announcement that it will designate Hizballah in its entirety helps to further restrict the terrorist organization’s ability to fundraise and operate in the region. Great move by President @avucic!
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) September 13, 2020
The American Jewish Committee thanked Serbia for its move against Hezbollah.
“Momentum is building!” the Jewish group tweeted. “What nation will be next to join Serbia … in limiting the Iranian-backed terrorist group’s ability to operate in Europe?”
Thank you, Serbia 🇷🇸, for designating Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.
Momentum is building! What nation will be next to join Serbia and 🇩🇪🇱🇹🇳🇱🇬🇧 in limiting the Iranian-backed terrorist group’s ability to operate in Europe? https://t.co/hs5j3ebKPF
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) September 13, 2020
StandWithUs similarly tweeted, “Other European countries should follow this example. Thank you Serbia for standing up against terrorism!”
Serbia is set to designate #Hezbollah as a terror organization. Other European countries should follow this example.
Thank you Serbia for standing up against terrorism! 🇷🇸👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/WDDQFolGgj
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) September 14, 2020
The U.S. has been lobbying the European Union (EU) to designate all of Hezbollah as a terror organization; to date, the EU has designated only Hezbollah’s military wing as a terror group. U.S. lawmakers have argued that Hezbollah’s political wing raises money for its military wing, therefore its imperative that Hezbollah be designated as a terror organization in its entirety.
