The European Union has again been accused of handing cash to an NGO linked to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
Jean-Paul Garraud, an MEP for Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, lashed out at the European Commission for pulling funds from Hungarian organisations over alleged rule-of-law breeches while allegedly handing out grants to Islamist organisations.
“At a time when the Commission has cut off more than 30 higher education and cultural establishments in Hungary … it has no hesitation in giving €60,000 to the Erasmus+ project ‘Young Muslims for a Europe with a future: inclusive, digital and sustainable’, sponsored by three NGOs belonging to [the Forum Of European Muslim Youth And Student Organisations – FEMYSO],” he said.
The MEP went on to cite claims that FEMYSO “is the youth section of an organisation thought to be close to the Muslim Brotherhood called the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe [FIOE], which represents Islamic fundamentalism in Europe”.
Such links have also been claimed in a report by the European Conservatives and Reformist (ECR) group on the EU funding of Islamism, which was published in 2021.
French interior minister Gérald Darmanin has also previously written to the EC asking it to distance the EU from FEMYSO over its alleged Islamist ties.
Garraud asked: “Does the Commission consider that the FIOE and the Muslim Brotherhood respect EU values?”
An event organised by the European Parliament sparked controversy after it included an invited delegation of 100 members of an NGO Muslim group that is said to have ties with the contentious Muslim Brotherhood. https://t.co/ilB346gOxc
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 12, 2023
Responding to the politician, EC Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said that the executive “attaches great importance to ensuring that beneficiaries of EU funds respect the EU values”.
He added that the EC was considering reforms on how EU funding is handed out.
“A number of recent cases have highlighted the risk of both national and/or EU funding falling into the wrong hands,” Schinas said.
“The Commission has thus proposed to reinforce the financial regulation by adding a new rule for exclusion of potential beneficiaries of EU funds in case of ‘incitement to hatred, discrimination or violence’, and strengthening the EU values section of the annotated grant agreement.”
“I will no longer comment on anything that has even the remotest connection to Islam,” said author and journalist Constantin Schreiber. https://t.co/Qxpxj4Qk2a
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 14, 2023
This is not the first time the EC has been accused of handing cash to organisations tied to Islamism that operate within the bloc.
Earlier this year, Eurocrats suspended funding for a Turkish organisation also working within the Erasmus+ programme.
Said to be focused on fighting “Islamophobia”, the Yavuz Sultan Selim group had its funding cut off over its views on women, which include claims that every woman and girl “needs to obey her master”.
It is also accused of having close ties to the Taliban.
The Libyan Coast Guard opened fire on an NGO migrant rescue mission from a European Union-donated boat, according to reports. https://t.co/APlXtdZYgF
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 10, 2023
