On April 30, the German government ended its longstanding policy of recognizing a fictive distinction between Hizballah’s “military” and “political” wings. Beforehand, Berlin had banned the former, but allowed the latter entity to operate within its borders. Christoph Bernstiel, a German parliamentarian, urges the rest of Europe to follow his country’s example, and explains why:
Though Hizballah has so far not carried out any attacks on German soil, [it] is spreading violence and terror across the whole world—including the Muslim world—and exploiting Germany as a safe haven. Our security authorities have been keeping a close eye on the organization for some time. Numerous measures have been implemented in recent years to diminish Hizballah’s influence in Germany.
In 2014, a fundraising association claiming to be collecting donations for orphans in Lebanon was banned and dissolved, since the money raised was being channeled to a Hizballah “martyrs’ fund.”
[Berlin’s new] approach to Hizballah could be described as a correction of the course previously taken, in which it had endeavored for many years to act as a mediator in negotiations between Lebanon and the state of Israel. Hizballah wields a very strong influence on politics and society in Lebanon. Germany believed that readiness to engage in dialogue could help build stability there. Yet it became clear that Hizballah repeatedly exploited this willingness to make concessions in order to carry out attacks or plan terrorist activities. Germany therefore reached the conclusion that the time for negotiations and warnings had gone on long enough.
Read more on Al-Arabiya: https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/2020/06/08/We-banned-Hezbollah-activities-in-Germany-Now-it-s-the-EU-s-turn-.html