The European Parliament has voted to counter the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and related Islamist networks in a move criticised as Islamophobic by leftwing opponents.
On October 8, the resolution to combat ‘Islamist entryism’ was adopted by 381 votes to 167, with 15 abstentions.
The resolution calls for entities and individuals linked to the Muslim Brotherhood to be put on the EU list of terrorist organisations, and for the establishment of a national list of hate preachers at EU level.
It distinguished between political Islam and Islam as a religion, which ‘is not inherently political or hostile’, adding that ‘the overwhelming majority of those who observe Islam as a religion reject violence against civilians in the name of Islam’.
The strategy of Islamist entryism, however, relies ‘on the organised confusion between Islam as a religion, which falls under freedom of conscience, and political Islam as a societal project, which seeks to produce collective norms, derogatory regimes or community allegiances placed above common law’.
The resolution says Islamist entryism contributes to the development of parallel communities and to practices incompatible with democratic principles, the rule of law and EU values.
Following the vote, the European Council will now decide whether to enact the proposals.
MEP Céline Imart of France, who sponsored the resolution, called the vote ‘a historic victory because it is a European first. For the first time, Europe has voted on a text that tackles Islamist entryism and the Muslim Brotherhood.’
Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters march in a rally in support of Gaza in Turin, Italy, on October 10
MEP Céline Imart of France, who sponsored the resolution, called the vote ‘a historic victory because it is a European first’
‘I’ve broken a taboo that Europe has been dragging around like a chain: this victory signifies a major doctrinal shift in the institutions. Proud to have carried this text through to the end,’ Imart wrote on X.
‘Thank you to the negotiators from the other groups with whom I had the pleasure of working—excluding the socialists and the far left, who boycotted the text. We were able to transcend partisan divides on a major issue for our societies and our youth.’
The resolution, led by the European People’s Party (EPP), was rejected by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), which published a statement following its passing.
‘ENAR condemns in the strongest possible terms the racist and Islamophobic resolution “on the need for an EU strategy to counter Islamist entryism and the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood network” proposed by the European People’s Party (EPP) and passed by the European Parliament today,’ the statement said.
‘This resolution is a stain on the European Parliament and marks a profoundly shameful day in Europe’s history.
‘A Parliament that should defend democracy, equality and fundamental rights has instead given institutional legitimacy to a racist politics of suspicion that casts Muslim communities, Muslim-led civil society, organisations combating Islamophobia, and those who defend their rights as inherently suspect.’
The resolution also deplored the rise of antisemitism in Europe and ‘condemned attempts to exploit the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to promote antisemitic narratives and deepen social polarisation’.
It considered the concealment of the face in public spaces ‘to pose challenges to public security, identification and law enforcement’.
The resolution supported national measures prohibiting full-face coverings, including the niqab and burqa, in spaces and premises open to the public as a necessary step to ensure ‘social cohesion, public safety and the protection of the rights and freedoms of others, in particular women’.
The European Commission has been called on to ensure that the ‘active promotion of Islamist ideologies which advocate the subjugation of women, antisemitism or hatred towards Christians’ has legal and administrative consequences.
It has also been asked to ensure that no EU funds can reach or benefit, directly or indirectly, entities linked to networks included on the EU list of terrorist organisations.
The resolution calls for a comprehensive overview of all cases of EU funds awarded to persons and entities suspected of links to the Muslim Brotherhood or political Islam.
Responding to the resolution, Lorenzo Vidino, director of the programme on extremism at George Washington University, told Fox News: ‘This is something that the French and the Austrian governments have been pushing for almost a decade.’
He added that the voting reflects a gap between the right and the left, ‘with the right voting almost entirely in favor of the resolution, and a good part of the left, although with some notable exceptions, voting against it’.
When asked about the differences between Europe and America’s approach to the Muslim Brotherhood, Vidino said the European way is ‘a bit more nuanced’ than that of Washington, where the Trump administration has already designated the Muslim Brotherhood and its branches terrorist organisations.
He added that Europe sees the Muslim Brotherhood ‘mostly through the lenses of entryism, of subversion, of a group that destroys the fabrics of society… a matter of a threat to democracy, but a lot of the activities of the Brotherhood might be legal if taken individually’.
He doubted whether the resolution would have a ‘major tangible impact’, however.
‘Islamist groups are very good at camouflaging their activities,’ he said.
‘This vote is a victory, but it is also a starting point,’ Imart said. ‘The Commission and the Council must now take action, and I will make sure they do.’
