Bulgaria FM: EU Must Start Debate on Hezbollah

Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Mladenov has denied earlier reports that the country has called for an EU labeling Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Earlier Monday ITAR-TASS reported Mladenov as having said that the EU needs to officially include Hezbollah in its list of terrorist groups.

Monday Mladenov is in Brussels where he will inform EU colleagues of the progress of Bulgaria's probe in the July 2012 terrorist attack against Israeli tourists in Burgas.

February 5, Bulgarian Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov for the first time implicated an organization in the Burgas bus bombing, by naming Hezbollah.

The Lebanese organization has consistently denied all involvement in the case.

But Tsvetanov's move has been hailed by Israel and the US, which launched theHezbollah hypothesis soon after the attack.

"Some EU members think that Hezbollah should be included in the terror list, some think this should be done only with respect to its military wing, still others prefer individual sanctions," said Mladenov for Bulgaria's Focus Information Agency.

He added that the debate on the EU level is in its initial phases and it is too early to call for a specific decision, which according to him must be reached via consensus.

"The EU has different options for action, but inaction is not an open option," said the Bulgarian top diplomat.

According to Mladenov, a coherent EU strategy with respect to Hezbollah is the only possible way to prevent future threats for security in the Union.