Interview by Vestnik Kavkaza
Today the decision made by Foreign Ministers of the EU countries on including the Lebanese part of the Hezbollah movement acting in Syria on the side of Bashar Assad on the list of terrorist organizations will come into force. A senior scientist of the Middle East Department of the Oriental Sciences Institute of the RAS, Vladimir Sotnikov, told Vestnik Kavkaza about its possible consequences.
- What should we expect from recognizing the military part of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization by the European community?
- In fact it was expected. The Americans included Hezbollah on the list of international terrorist organizations long time ago. The future seems to be not so bright, because Hezbollah is actually one of the terrorist groups which are supported by certain forces in the Middle East. These forces openly threaten Israel, fight against the state and send terrorists to its territory.
As for Lebanon, it has survived two wars already. In 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon, and only the international community – the USA and the USSR – prevented it from occupying Lebanese territories. The same happened in the 1990s.
Now it is not clear what the outcome of the Syrian developments will be. The civil war continues for a third year; and I see the future of the Middle East in dark colours.
Unfortunately, the Middle East group of Al Qaeda acts intensively in Syria and Lebanon; even though the Americans think that they defeated it two years ago after killing Osama bin Laden. If the international community doesn’t take measures on agreement on Syria and if our Western partners don’t understand that they should stop providing the opposition of Syria with arms, when the opposition is full of Islamist radicals and jihadists, the Middle East will see a sad future. If the conflict is settled peacefully, the situation on Lebanon's borders will improve, a united front against jihadism and Islamism will be established.
Look at Egypt – under the flags of the Muslim Brotherhood, jihadists and radical Islamists from all over the world are now gathering. The fight against international terrorism is not over. It continues threatening international peace and stability, just like in 2001.
- Does the fact that Hezbollah was included on the list of terrorist organizations depend on the position of the EU at the second international conference on Syria in Geneva?
- I don’t understand what the position of the EU and the European partners of Russia on Geneva-2 is. I haven’t seen a clear opinion. There are still chances that Geneva-2 will work and the conference will take place. Today, after several victories by government troops, including defeats of jihadists, on the territory of Syria, the conditions for participation of the Syrian government in the conference remain. On the other hand, in this situation the opposition can reject talks with Bashar Assad. So the prospects of Geneva-2 are still dim.
