EU not to place Hezbollah on terrorist list, for now: presidency

The European Union does not intend to place Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organizations for the time being, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said Tuesday.

"Given the sensitive situation where we are, I don't think this is something we will be acting on now," said Tuomioja, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

"But it can be later on when we see ... the outcome of the political agreement, which everybody in Lebanon should be a party to," he said in response to a reporter's question.

Tuomioja was speaking after a crisis meeting of EU foreign ministers on the situation in southern Lebanon, where Israel has unleashed a nearly three-week-old offensive against Hezbollah in retaliation for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers.

Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel.