Malta does not veto EU's blacklisting of Hezbollah

European Union ministers have agreed to put the military wing of Lebanese group Hezbollah on the EU terror list, diplomats said, in a major reversal of policy.

"Agreement [was] reached to list Hezbollah," one EU diplomat said, according to the Reuters news agency. Three other diplomats confirmed that.

Malta's foreign minister George Vella was among the ministers who approved the blacklisting, despite Malta being one of the countries who had 'reservations' about blacklisting the Lebanese organisation, together with Austria, the Czech Republic and Ireland.  The move required the agreement of all 28 of the EU's member states.

In his initial reaction to the decision, Vella said: "During this morning's discussions, Malta held to its position and expressed its doubts and concerns while tabling its questions."

However, Vella added that Malta did not veto the proposal which required the approval of all 28 member states as it did not want to block the entire process.

"At the end of it all, blocking the whole process, together with other countries who shared the same position, was not in the best interest of the EU's voting process."

In the past days, Vella, while making it clear that Malta condemned all acts of terrorism, said that Malta was concerned that the blacklisting would have implications on the political stability of Lebanon and the Middle East.

It will now become illegal for Hezbollah sympathisers in Europe to send the group money or for European diplomats to meet its militant staff.

Some member states had been wary of the measure, saying it could further destabilise the situation in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has a powerful political organisation and, along with its allies, dominated the last Lebanese cabinet, which resigned in March.

EU officials had reportedly been proposing a compromise to satisfy more sceptical members - a statement that the bloc "should continue dialogue with all political parties in Lebanon".

The Lebanese government had on Friday urged Brussels not to move against Hezbollah, describing the militant group as an "essential component of Lebanese society".

But the group's involvement in the war across the border in Syria, in support of President Bashar al-Assad, has hardened European opinions.

Britain has sought to persuade its EU peers since May to put the Shia Muslim group's armed wing on the bloc's terrorism list, citing evidence that it was behind a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria last year. The decision requires a unanimous vote.

Until now, the EU had resisted pressure from Washington and Israel to blacklist Hezbollah, arguing that it could fuel instability in Lebanon, where the group is part of the government, and add to tensions in the Middle East.

The blacklisting would mean imposing visa bans on individuals and asset freezes on organizations associated with the group. But the implementation would be complicated since officials would have to unravel the links between the different wings within Hezbollah's organisational network and see who could be targeted for belonging to the military wing.

Britain, backed by France and the Netherlands among others, has argued that Hezbollah's growing involvement in the Syrian war means Lebanon is already in a fragile situation and that the EU must weigh the possibility of future attacks in Europe.

Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans welcomed the decision. "It is good that the EU has decided to call Hezbollah what it is: a terrorist organization," he said.

On Thursday, Lebanon asked Brussels not to blacklist Hezbollah on the grounds the group was an "essential component of Lebanese society."

Some EU diplomats, responding to concerns that sanctions could further radicalise the group, have argued that targeting the military wing could, in the long term, persuade some of its members to move away from violence into the political sphere.

Hezbollah denies any involvement in last July's attack in the Bulgarian coastal resort of Bourgas that killed five Israelis and their driver.

But the Bulgarian interior minister said last week that Sofia had no doubt the group was behind it.

In support of its bid to impose sanctions, Britain has also cited a four-year jail sentence handed down by a Cypriot court in March to a Hezbollah member accused of plotting to attack Israeli interests on the island.