The spokesman for the European External Action Service said on Tuesday 12 January that the designation by the United States the day before of Ansar Allah, the Houthi movement, as a foreign terrorist organisation risked making it more difficult for the United Nations to reach a global solution to the conflict in Yemen.
“This will complicate the necessary diplomatic engagement with Ansar Allah and the international community’s work on political, humanitarian and development issues”, he said in a statement.
According to him, the EU is particularly concerned about the impact of this decision on the humanitarian situation in Yemen, which is currently facing an “imminent risk of widespread famine”. “The designation is likely to have a disruptive effect on the delivery of internationally funded humanitarian assistance and could further exacerbate the economic crisis that has resulted from more than five years of conflict”, said the spokesperson.
He warned that the EU was ready, in coordination with the international community, to support efforts to mitigate the impact of designation on aid delivery and the economy “with particular attention to the functionality of the private sector”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)