EU's decision over Hezbollah enters into effect

Sanctions imposed by the European Union against the military wing of Hezbollah entered on Friday into effect after being published in the official gazette of the European Union.

Hezbollah is now listed with 11 other names and 25 organizations on the EU's list of terrorist organizations.

This comes after the EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs decided on Monday to put the military wing of Hezbollah on the EU's list of terrorist organizations, stressing at the same time that the designation does not affect ties with the Lebanese state.

The EU decision followed a bus bombing in Bulgaria that killed five Israelis and their driver a year ago and a four-year jail sentence handed by a Cypriot court in March to a Hezbollah member accused of plotting to attack Israeli interests there.

Although the Bulgaria bombing was the main reason given by most EU governments that backed the ban, some countries, such as France, said openly that Hezbollah's role in Syria was a factor in throwing their support behind the measure.