Romania Edges Closer to Visa-Free Travel to the US
Romania is making strides toward joining the Visa Waiver Program, a significant milestone that would enable its citizens to travel to the United States visa-free for up to 90 days
US Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Bob Casey (D-PA), and James Risch (R-ID) have coauthored a resolution, urging the European Union to sanction Lebanese Hezbollah both for terrorism and for its direct and material support to Bashar al Assad in his war against the Syrian people.
The document is published on Lieberman's and Congress official websites.
The document reminds that the United States has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization since the mid-1990s, and the organization has been tied to repeated terrorist attacks over the past thirty years that have killed Americans, Europeans, Lebanese, and others.
"Hezbollah is widely suspected of carrying out a suicide bombing in July on European Union territory, in Bulgaria, in which an EU citizen and five Israelis were killed. The European Union, however, has not yet designated Hezbollah for terrorism. In October, John Brennan, President Obama's chief counterterrorism advisor, told a European audience in Dublin, Ireland, that, "Failure to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization makes it harder to defend our countries and protect our citizens." Mr. Brennan also stated that the Bulgaria terrorist bombing "bore the hallmarks of a Hezbollah attack," the resolution reads.
The measure also supports the Bulgarian government in its investigation of the July 18 terrorist attack.
"The time has come for our European Union allies to sanction Hezbollah. In particular over the past year, the evidence has become overwhelming and indisputable that Hezbollah as an organization is doing everything it can keep its ally Bashar al Assad in power, and that it is responsible for carrying out acts of terrorism," Sen. Joe Lieberman, who delivered his final speech from the chamber floor just three days ago, says.
57 Senators so far have cosponsored the resolution.
Five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver were killed in the July 18 terrorist attack in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Burgas. 32 Israeli tourists were injured. Israeli and American intelligence and officials largely blame Hezbollah for the attack.
However, Bulgarian officials, including the President, the Prime Minister, and the Foreign Affairs Minister, have been very wary of directly involving Hezbollah, reiterating it all depended on the findings of the ongoing investigation.
Recently, European diplomats were quoted saying that he results of Bulgaria's probe in July's bombing of an Israeli tour bus, including a possible Hezbollah lead, will be "essential" for the EU process to list the Lebanese organization as a terrorist entity.
The US included Hezbollah in the list of terrorist organizations as early as 1995.
In the eve of the recent visit of Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, to Washington DC, and his December 3 meeting with US President, Barack Obama, the new US Ambassador in Sofia, Marcie Ries, stressed Obama was expecting to hear from Borisov the latest developments in the probe in the Burgas terror act.
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