Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah addressing supporters in Beirut. Photo: Reuters.

JNS.org – European Union lawmakers on Thursday urged EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to classify all of Hezbollah as a terror organization.

“It’s outrageous that the European Union still has not denounced Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization… It is high time to acknowledge that Islamist inspired terrorism is not only a threat to the Middle East, but is also the top threat to Europe’s security,” said MEP Anders Vistisen, one of three co-initiators of the letter, which was signed by an additional 60 EU lawmakers.

The EU lawmakers said that the current policy, which distinguishes between the Lebanese terror group’s supposed “military” and “political” wings, is “illogical” and rejected even by Hezbollah itself.

Additionally, the letter outlines the serious threat Hezbollah poses to the Middle East, noting that it has amassed 120,000 rockets in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and has supported the war crimes of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The EU recognized Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist entity after a 2012 Hezbollah-sponsored terror attack on a tour bus in Bulgaria which killed 5 Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian bus driver.

The American Jewish Committee welcomed the letter by the MEPs and urged the EU to adopt the measure.

“The broad, cross-party support this letter has received underscores the fact that there is luckily a growing realization in Europe that Hezbollah is a monumental threat not only to Syrians, Israelis and of course Lebanese, but ultimately also to European security,” said Daniel Schwammenthal, Director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute.