Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups tried to influence EU: Report

A bombshell report from the French authorities alleges that organizations with links to the Muslim Brotherhood have been attempting to influence European Union institutions through “significant lobbying activities.”

A version of the document seen by POLITICO before its official publication says the Islamist group’s supposed ideological allies sought to push Brussels to criminalize blasphemy and promote a “singular” vision of religious freedom that clashes with France’s strict model of a secular state that protects both freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The European Parliament and MEPs were “particularly targeted,” the report said.

The French Ministry of the Interior had been expected to release a sanitized version of the document, which would not include the names of sources that could be endangered by its release and mentions of ongoing legal cases, on Wednesday after it was discussed during a national security council meeting chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Following the meeting, Macron’s office said the report would be released by the end of the week.

The version of the report seen by POLITICO alleges that the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded more than 100 years ago in Egypt with the aim of creating a state ruled by Islamic law, is pushing its agenda via several pan-European organizations that share the group’s ideology and have received money from Qatar and Kuwait, states known to fund both Muslim and Islamist causes overseas.

Among the organizations listed were the Council of European Muslims (CEM) and the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO). The report claimed that members of the Brotherhood’s inner circle were members of CEM and that FEMYSO was used as a “training structure” for Muslim Brotherhood officials.

FEMYSO in a statement strongly denied the allegations while CEM did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.

The reports’ findings, which are based on dozens of interviews with academics, Muslim leaders and intelligence officers, are similar to those of a government review published in the United Kingdom a decade ago.

The report alleged that the Muslim Brotherhood waged parts of its influence campaign under the guise of combatting Islamophobia, but at times struggled to tie specific pieces of purported evidence, like an anti-discrimination campaign featuring the slogan “freedom is in hijab,” directly to the group.

France has in recent days gone to great lengths to protect its secular nature. Earlier this week, France’s Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad called for tighter checks on the way the EU allocates grants following allegations that Brussels funded campaigns that did not respect the country’s secular values, and purportedly entities linked to Islamist movements.