Aoun to EU: Your Accusations against Resistance are False, Your Wars in Syria Have Impacted Lebanon
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday said the EU's decision to blacklist Hizbullah's so-called armed wing was “based on false accusations,” noting that Lebanon has been suffering from "the wars waged by some of your countries in Syria."
“Today, I will limit my statement to one topic. I will send a message to the EU which has put Hizbullah's armed wing on the terror list,” said Aoun after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc.
“As a Lebanese citizen, I have the right to address them regardless of my political position. I will speak to the European mind according to its values,” Aoun added.
“Yesterday, I was stunned by the news of placing Hizbullah's military wing on the terror list, because that contradicts with the Charter of the United Nations which mentions the right to liberate the land,” he said.
Reciting a written statement, Aoun added: “These weapons were the factor that forced Israel to withdraw from the South in the year 2000, following 22 years of occupation.”
“It took 22 years for the U.N. resolution (425) to be implemented and it was only put into effect under the pressure of the resistance's weapons and the July war is still in our memory,” Aoun went on to say.
He pointed out that Lebanon is still facing “three forms of aggression: the persistent occupation of parts of its territory, the problem of Palestinian refugees, and the daily violations of its airspace.”
“We were hoping European states would back our right to regain our land, as Argentina had announced that Hizbullah had nothing to do with the incident that happened on its territory and Bulgaria has said that Hizbullah's role in the Burgas bombing has not been confirmed,” Aoun said.
He noted that when the EU member states “turn their backs on the peoples who are defending their freedom, they would be renouncing their own right,” as “all peoples have practiced their right to resist occupation.”
“If only you could realize how Lebanon has suffered from the wars waged by some of your countries in Syria,” Aoun added.
To get the required agreement of all 28 EU member states, European foreign ministers had to overcome reservations of some members that the move would further destabilize Lebanon, where Hizbullah plays a key role in politics.
Accordingly, EU political and economic ties with Lebanon will be fully maintained in a delicate balancing act.
Hizbullah's military wing was blamed for a deadly attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last year.
In March, a self-confessed Hizbullah operative was also convicted in Cyprus of plotting a similar attack.
Lebanon had asked the EU not to blacklist Hizbullah on the grounds it was an "essential component of Lebanese society."
Support for the EU sanctions against Hizbullah grew in recent weeks after the party openly declared it was sending fighters to back the Syrian regime.
Source: Naharnet
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