EU to increase monitoring of Muslim Brotherhood financial flows

The European Parliament has requested the European Commission to intensify its scrutiny of financial transactions related to the Muslim Brotherhood within the European Union. The 10-page resolution calls for the Commission to produce a detailed account of all EU funds allocated to entities believed to have ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.

This accounting should outline the amounts received and the reasons behind the awarding of these funds, which have been questioned due to potential ideological, institutional, or financial links to networks associated with the Muslim Brotherhood or political Islam. Examples cited include the youth organization Femyso, the European Network Against Racism, Al Sharq Forum, Islamic Relief Worldwide, and the University of Gaziantep, all of which allegedly received EU funding for projects in areas like youth, anti-discrimination, education, culture, research, humanitarian aid, intercultural dialogue, or university programs, despite raising concerns about their associations with networks linked to the Muslim Brotherhood or political Islam.

MEP Tomas Zdechovsky, the EPP spokesman for budgetary control, emphasized that the Commission and member states must verify who receives EU funding before it is granted, demanding full transparency and the ability to trace every euro, flag risks, and halt funding if rules are breached. The resolution, passed with a vote of 381 to 167, was led by the European People's Party (EPP) and supported by centrists, but rejected by the left.

While resolutions are not legally binding, they indicate the political sentiment across the continent. The Commission has three months to respond to Parliament's requests, though it is not obligated to act on them. The National newspaper has reached out to the Commission for further comment.

In June, the EPP adopted a resolution at its factional political assembly in Vienna, Austria, titled "Interference of Political Islam in European democratic processes," expressing concerns over Islamist entryism as a deliberate strategy to promote an ideological agenda where religion, society, law, and politics are perceived as interconnected.

The resolution also calls for the listing of some Muslim Brotherhood supporters as terrorists and highlights that several EU states have recently banned entities linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.