EU funding to Muslim Brotherhood-aligned organisations
4.2.2022
Question for written answer E-000495/2022/rev.1
to the Council
Rule 138
Charlie Weimers (ECR)
In October 2021, the research report ‘Network of Networks: The Muslim Brotherhood in Europe’[1] was published. In the report, two esteemed scholars who focus on the Muslim Brotherhood present some very concerning findings in relation to the Commission’s funding of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organisations.
The report notes that the Muslim Brotherhood’s ultimate goal is to build an Islamic state based on Sharia law. It is not a supporter of liberal democracy or western values. The Muslim Brotherhood is not a single, centralised organisation, but a web of different branches formally independent from one another linked by ideological patterns, umbrella organisations and individual ties. Their ideology is described as radical and dangerous, undermining national security and social cohesion.
In the light of the priorities of the French presidency of the Council, including its intention to promote values of tolerance and combat radicalisation:
- 1.Is the Council aware of the Commission’s funding of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organisations, including Islamic Relief, the Forum for European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations and the Lokahi Foundation?
- 2.Will the Council take steps to cease the funding, given that time and again, security agencies and parliamentary inquiries in multiple Member States have assessed that Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organisations have caused damage to the security and social cohesion of the Member States?
- 3.Does the Council agree that non-violent Islamists pose a systemic threat to European values?
- [1] https://ecrgroup.eu/files/MuslimBrotherhood.pdf