This week, Germany announced a ban on all Hezbollah activities in the country, defining the entire group as a terrorist organisation.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer gave the banning order, which prohibits the use of Hezbollah symbols publicly and enables the confiscation of Hezbollah assets. This marks a departure from the European Union position which only proscribes Hezbollah’s ‘military wing’, separating this from its so-called ‘political wing’. Germany joins the UK, the US, Canada and the Netherlands in banning the terror group in full.
A press release published by the German Interior Ministry underlined that there can be no distinction between the terror group’s ‘political wing’ and its military activities.
The statement said: “Hezbollah openly calls for the violent elimination of the State of Israel and questions the right of the State of Israel to exist. The organisation is therefore fundamentally against the concept of international understanding, regardless of whether it presents itself as a political, social or military structure”.
Another Interior Ministry document states that Hezbollah’s “violent denial of the right to exist of the State of Israel also fundamentally opposes Germany’s national ethos”.
German police carried out raids on locations affiliated with the terror group following the announcement.
