European Parliament Unites to Confront the Infiltration of Political Islam
Oct. 13 2026, Published 12:00 a.m. ET
The European Parliament, on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, discussed the need for a European strategy to counter what parliamentary documents describe as "political Islamic infiltration" and the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood's network.
MEPs voted today, Thursday 8 October, on the draft resolutions linked to the file. Several MEPs and European political groups have called for a tougher approach towards Brotherhood networks, and for a review of their sources of funding and their relations with European institutions.
During the session, the European People's Party (EPP) presented a draft resolution prepared by French MEP Céline Imart. It focuses on creating a European methodology for identifying indicators of political Islamist infiltration. These include mixing religious activity with political work, a double discourse towards institutions, opaque sources of funding, and repeated partnerships with bodies previously linked to Islamist networks.
The draft resolution stresses the need to trace European funds to their final beneficiary. The aim is to prevent money from reaching entities or individuals with links to networks that European authorities regard as a risk or as exercising illegitimate influence.
MEP Susanna Ceccardi said the Brotherhood seeks to impose Sharia, and that people linked to it "enter associations, schools and universities" and use the institutions themselves to push for legislation that serves their aims.
MEP Khan said political Islam poses a danger to democracy, pointing to the expansion of Brotherhood structures, particularly among young people. She criticized what she described as years of German tolerance of "parallel structures". She called for clear consequences, zero tolerance of such structures and an end to public money for Islamist networks.
Another speaker said the European Parliament had a "historic opportunity" to end what she described as years of complacency and naivety towards the Muslim Brotherhood. She urged MEPs to vote against what she called the challenge posed by the group, saying plainly: "No more funding for these organizations affiliated with Islamist movements. And no more room for them."
She noted that countries such as Austria, as well as countries outside the EU such as Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, have placed the Brotherhood on their lists of terrorist organizations, and called on the EU to take the same step.
Background to the Move
According to what has been made public, the EPP is basing its current move on legal and political ground described as fragile. It cites reports and national draft laws that have not yet become binding legislation.
These include the French interior ministry's 2025 report and a resolution passed by the French National Assembly in January 2026 calling for the Brotherhood to be designated a terrorist organization. That resolution was opposed by 101 French MPs, who described it as "anti-Muslim". The EPP also cites a similar Dutch parliamentary proposal submitted in March 2026.
The text of the parliamentary proposal shows that one of its main aims is to legitimize cutting government and European funding to Islamic and anti-discrimination and anti-racism civil society organizations in Europe.
A representative of the European Council said that "the threat of extremism and extremist Islamism remains a priority for the European Union and its member states." He added that the Brotherhood is "clearly subject to further scrutiny", amid European concerns about the role of foreign funding in supporting Islamist organizations and institutions.
He pointed out that the Brotherhood is not currently on the list of terrorist organizations under Council Decision 2026/455, and is therefore not subject to the specific restrictive measures applied to listed groups. However, he said the EU has various means of dealing with the methods used by the networks under scrutiny.
Decisive Steps
These moves are heading towards a structural approach built on key pillars. Chief among them is a comprehensive security and political strategy to dismantle the organization's activities and to expose the mechanisms through which it uses civil society institutions as fronts to advance its agendas and exert deep influence on the policies of European states. The moves stem from what is described as an urgent need to protect democratic values and the rule of law against any attempts at infiltration or ideological exploitation.
The European Parliament does not have the power to ban the Brotherhood. It can, however, push for coordinated action by the Commission, member states and the Council of the EU. This could ultimately lead to specific groups or entities being added to the EU terrorist list and to financial and legal restrictions being imposed on them.
The session shows that the Brotherhood file within European institutions has moved from general political debate to a more specific discussion of evidence, funding, organizational links and legal powers.
The step could establish strict mechanisms to halt direct or indirect financial support and funding for bodies and fronts linked to the organization within European countries. It could also contain the risk of the group's members and affiliated proxy entities infiltrating EU institutions and local communities.
It also confirms growing awareness among European governments of the danger posed by Brotherhood ideology. This reflects the end of a phase of turning a blind eye and administrative complacency, and the start of a phase of institutional immunity designed to expel sleeper cells and dry up their sources of ideological and financial influence.
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Parliament Recognizes the Danger
In April 2026, two MEPs submitted an explicit draft resolution entitled "Inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood on the EU list of terrorist organizations". It called for a coordinated European assessment of the information available on the group and its affiliated structures, and requested that the necessary listing procedures begin on the basis of evidence and legal criteria.
In February 2026, the European Parliament discussed the French National Assembly's January resolution, which called on European institutions to consider adding the Muslim Brotherhood and its leaders to the EU list of terrorist organizations. MEPs asked the Commission to set out its position on starting the legal process to do so.
In September 2025, the debate moved on to the issue of infiltration of educational, social and political networks. Questions were raised about the scale of Brotherhood activity in EU countries and the measures taken to counter what those asking described as the group's ideological influence. In July of the same year, the question of adding Brotherhood-linked entities to the EU terrorist list had also been raised.
This move confirms that European institutions have become aware of the danger of the soft influence exercised by the group's fronts and lobbying networks to shape political decision-making from within.
MEP Nicolas Bay said in his recorded speech that the group is "an extremist organisation that aims to overthrow the order in Europe through systematic infiltration of the key joints of Western societies". He said the group runs organised lobbying networks within European institutions to serve the goal of Islamizing the continent.
He stressed that the EU must stop acting as a naive platform for those seeking to weaken it from within. He added that although the Brotherhood's institutional structure may appear official and civic on the surface, its ideological core is extremist and aims to undermine the foundations of the modern nation-state.
