Kosovo sanctions 7 people, 1 company for links to Hezbollah

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo on Wednesday sanctioned seven local businessmen and a company for links with Lebanon’s military group Hezbollah.

The decision was in line with sanctions the U.S. imposed on Hezbollah, a powerful Shiite faction that holds seats in Lebanon’s Parliament.

A statement said that seven people and the AID Properties company had their assets frozen. The seven can neither leave the country nor receive money from other individuals or companies from Kosovo.

Neither Lebanon nor Palestine recognize Kosovo’s 2008 independence.

Kosovo established diplomatic ties with Israel earlier this year following a Kosovo-Serbia summit held at the White House in Sept. 2020. A month later it opened its embassy in Jerusalem, the first European country and a Muslim-majority one to do that, following the U.S. and Guatemala. Most international embassies are in Tel Aviv.