In video, envoy acknowledges US ‘pushed Germans hard’ to blacklist Hezbollah
US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell has acknowledged in video footage that Washington “pushed” Berlin “hard” to blacklist the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah.
Marwa Osman, a journalist and political commentator from Beirut, revealed in a tweet on Tuesday that Grenell had “openly” declared in a video posted on August 18 that the US pressured Germany to ban Hezbollah.
“We pushed the Germans very hard — they were not happy, but we pushed them to ban Hezb. We think the French should do it, and EU,” the US ambassador to Germany admits in the footage.
Exclusive footage of @richardgrenell US ambassador to #Germany via Zoom on Aug 18 openly declaring: US pressured Germany to ban #Hezbollah and demonize it.
— Marwa Osman || مروة عثمان (@Marwa__Osman) September 1, 2020
"We pushed the Germans very hard, they were not happy but we pushed them to ban Hezb, we think the French should do it & EU" pic.twitter.com/q6daVsn9jT
Last December, Germany’s parliament approved a motion urging Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to ban all activities by Hezbollah on German soil. The motion came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on a trip to Berlin that he hoped Germany would follow Britain in banning Hezbollah.
On April 30, the German Interior Ministry designated the Lebanese resistance group a “terrorist organization” and banned all of Hezbollah’s activities in the country.
The ministry also ordered raids on sites police said were linked to the group, with reports emerging that four mosques and cultural associations had been searched, as well as the private houses of Hezbollah’s board members, treasurers, and tax advisers.
Most member states of the European Union (EU) have so far refrained from labeling the Lebanese resistance movement a “terrorist organization.”
Last year, the British government broke with the rest of Europe to do that.
Hezbollah was established following the 1982 Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon.
Since then, the resistance movement has grown into a powerful military force, dealing repeated blows to the Israeli military, including during a 33-day war in July 2006.
Hezbollah has also helped fight terrorist groups in Syria.
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