EU Parliament Backs Motion on Muslim Brotherhood, Islamist Entryism

After the Trump administration sanctioned foreign Muslim Brotherhood organizations, the European Parliament has taken a separate step against the transnational Islamist movement.

As European institutions confront concerns about radical Islam across the continent, an overwhelming majority of lawmakers approved a resolution condemning the Muslim Brotherhood and its activities.

French European Parliament member Céline Imart, who sponsored the measure, described the vote as “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.”

Writing on X, Imart said the vote had “broken a taboo that Europe has been dragging around like a chain,” adding that the outcome represented “a major doctrinal shift in the institutions.” She said lawmakers had overcome partisan divisions on an issue affecting their societies and young people.

Lorenzo Vidino, director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, told News Media that the initiative reflected efforts pursued by the French and Austrian governments for nearly a decade. He said the vote pointed to a growing European consensus in favor of action.

The resolution was spearheaded by the European People’s Party, or EPP, the European Parliament’s largest center-right group. Vidino said the vote also revealed a political divide: lawmakers on the right supported the measure almost unanimously, while a substantial portion of the left opposed it, with some notable exceptions.

In her post on X, Imart thanked negotiators from other parliamentary groups with whom she worked, while excluding the socialists and far-left members, whom she accused of boycotting the text.

Vidino cautioned that the Brotherhood is still viewed through the lens of Europe’s domestic political disputes. That approach, he said, is misplaced because the organization presents a challenge to European societies as a whole.

A European Parliament news release said Islamist entryism seeks to target “democratic institutions, the rule of law, equality between women and men and fundamental freedoms.” It also emphasized that protecting Muslim citizens from discrimination is “a democratic obligation,” while warning against treating organized Islamist networks as legitimate representatives or interlocutors.

The release said Europe must remain free, open and committed to its principles, but “can ‘no longer fund, consult or legitimize networks that use its language, procedures and funding to weaken its values from within.’” At the same time, lawmakers stressed that anti-discrimination measures must not be used to shield Islam from criticism or legitimize organized Islamist networks.

The resolution drew sharp criticism from ENAR, a pan-European anti-racism network, which released a statement after the vote. ENAR called the measure “racist and Islamophobic,” rejected allegations linking it and member organizations such as FEMYSO to the Muslim Brotherhood, and said those claims were based on falsehoods and “sham allegations.”

ENAR further described the resolution as “a stain on the European Parliament” and “a profoundly shameful day in Europe’s history.” The group said lawmakers had given institutional legitimacy to what it called a racist politics of suspicion aimed at Muslim communities, Muslim-led civil society groups, organizations opposing Islamophobia and people defending Muslim rights.

Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told News Media that the resolution marked the beginning of a challenge to Islamist entryism in Europe. He praised its clarity but said the more difficult work—turning the principles into binding legislation—would now begin.

Fitton-Brown, a former UK ambassador to Yemen, argued that Europe often treats “legal” and “non-violent” Islamism as separate from, or even an answer to, violent Islamist terrorism. In his view, it instead creates an environment that can lead toward terrorism, with both pursuing similar objectives through different tactics.

He also said Europe does not treat subversion as a high-priority threat, unlike during the Cold War, when governments recognized it and adopted serious countermeasures. Fitton-Brown argued that efforts to appease Islamist entryism have included hostile policies toward Israel and, at times, laws bordering on blasphemy restrictions or targeting “Islamophobia.” He said such policies are intended to protect Muslim communities but can instead harm liberal Muslims seeking greater freedom outside the confines of their communities.

Asked about the differences between Europe and the U.S. approach to the Brotherhood, Vidino said the European way is “a bit more nuanced” than that of the U.S., where the Trump administration has designated the Muslim Brotherhood and 4 of its branches as terrorist organizations. He says 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.”

While noting that numerous security services across Europe have been warning about the Muslim Brotherhood for some time, Vidino says the resolution “sets the tone. It gives a political push,” suggesting agencies and governments “might feel more legitimized in seeing the Brotherhood in negative ways.”

“I’m a bit skeptical on whether this resolution would have a major tangible impact,” Vidino added. “Islamist groups are very good at camouflaging their activities.” While there is “no organization that calls itself Muslim Brotherhood in Europe,” he said if and when funding is pulled from an Islamist organization by the EU, “They will make a fuss… They fight back. They have an ability to also leverage what could be a crisis, but turn it to their advantage by playing the victim card and the Islamophobia card.”

As part of the resolution, the European Council was asked to assess whether entities or individuals linked to the Muslim Brotherhood should be added to the EU list of terrorist organizations. It called for full traceability of EU funding and a European Commission overview of EU funds awarded to people or entities suspected of links to the Muslim Brotherhood or political Islam. 

It also welcomed initiatives by member states to draw up national lists of hate preachers and calls for the establishment of such a list at EU level, while also calling for stronger scrutiny of foreign funding and transnational partnerships, particularly involving actors linked to Qatar or Turkey and greater use of Schengen tools and EU databases.

“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.”