Austria on Friday amended its Symbols Act, which prohibits the use of the symbols of terrorist groups, and stipulated that all arms of Hezbollah are considered terrorist organizations, Ynet reported.
Until the amendment, only Hezbollah's military wing was included in the country's Symbols Act.
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi praised the move, saying, "Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that first and foremost harms the citizens of Lebanon themselves, and takes them hostage in order to serve Iran's interests. I call on the European Union and other countries to recognize Hezbollah, in all its arms, as a terrorist organization."
Ynet noted that in the last year and a half, 17 countries have declared that they see all of Hezbollah's arms as a terrorist organization.
Austria has joined Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland, which have recently made similar decisions on Hezbollah.
In March of 2019, the British government designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Last year, Britain's finance ministry added the entire Hezbollah organization to its list of terrorist groups subject to asset freezing.
Also last year, Germany outlawed Hezbollah and also took enforcement measures against the group.
In November of 2020, Slovenia joined the list of countries to blacklist Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
This past February, the Liguria Regional Council in Italy designated Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.
In 2013, the European Union blacklisted Hezbollah's “military wing” as a terrorist organization but failed to blacklist the group’s political arm.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)