The government of Estonia announced Thursday that it would impose sanctions on the Hezbollah terrorist organization and ban its members from entering the country.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said Hezbollah posed “a considerable threat to international — and thereby Estonian — security."
“With this step, Estonia stands by the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and Lithuania as well as other countries who have concluded that Hezbollah uses terrorist means and constitutes a threat to the security of many states,” Reinsalu said in a statement.
“Hezbollah affiliates about whom there is information or there are reasonable grounds to believe that their activity supports terrorism and who therefore pose a threat to the Estonian as well as international security,” he said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi praised the decision. "The Estonian government’s decision to recognize Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, in its entirety, and to bar the group’s members from entering the country, sends a clear message against terrorism and against Hezbollah’s terrorist activities, which threaten world peace and undermine regional stability."
"I congratulate the Estonian government and my friend, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu, on reaching this important decision," he said.
Estonia, which serves as a Security Council member, joins Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia, and additional countries that have recognized Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
Foreign Minister Ashkenazi called on other countries, and the EU, to join the pressure campaign against Hezbollah and outlaw its activities.