Saudi Arabia Urges Europe to Declare Houthis a Terrorist Organization; EU Has Not Yet Responded

In depth

Saudi Arabia continues to confront the Houthi threat, and attacks by the terrorist organization on the Arab kingdom have not ceased. As a result, it is calling on European countries to declare the Houthis a terrorist organization. The Saudi request is at the center of diplomatic pressure being applied on the European Union.

Saudi Arabia is pressing the European Union to add the Houthis to its list of terrorist organizations, but so far it has failed to garner sufficient support for the move. European countries are hesitant, and the move has met with resistance.

European countries fear that declaring the Houthis a terrorist organization would lead to the severing of the limited communication channels they still maintain with the organization. According to them, the severing would harm the possibility of European involvement in a future peace process in Yemen. Including the Houthis on the European Union's list of terrorist organizations requires an agreed decision by member states, and such a decision has not yet been made.