Visegrád countries have initiated a six-month review of European Union decision to ban Hezbollah's military wing, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi stated on Monday.

Several initiatives of the V4 countries of Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland have been included in the political declarations adopted at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Monday, including a six-month review of the blacklisted Hezbollah organisation, the Minister said.

The ban involves denied entry to members of the military organisation as well as a freezing of their bank accounts. At the same time EU foreign ministers said dialogue will be pursued with every political party in Lebanon, including Hezbollah.

Minister Martonyi said Hezbollah's military wing is easy to identify and it will be blacklisted as an organisation, not through its individual members. However, the V4 is of the opinion that in the interest of stability in Lebanon, cooperation with authorities in Beirut must continue and financial and humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees from the EU is still legal.

As far as the Syrian civil war is concerned, the Hungarian Minister pointed out that common opinion of EU ministers is that the conflict can only be solved by political, and not by military means. He found the Syrian situation dramatic, and emphasized that the "deliberate destruction of children", namely the deployment of child soldiers can be already observed.

Eastern Partnership was also on the agenda of the EU foreign ministers summit. Minister Martonyi said that Belarus − which was condemned in many ways by the EU − will be also invited to the EU's Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius this autumn.

He told journalists that representatives of the V4 countries held a meeting prior to the foreign ministerial one, for the first time under Hungary's V4 presidency, which started on 1 July. V4 countries strive to reach joint positions on major issues on the EU agenda, while also addressing national positions, the Minister said.

(MTI, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)