The European Parliament voted Thursday to support adding Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations and individuals to the European Union’s terrorist list, approving a sweeping resolution aimed at combating Islamist influence across Europe and preventing EU taxpayer funds from reaching extremist networks.
The resolution passed by a vote of 381-167, with 15 abstentions, calling on EU member states to develop a coordinated strategy to counter what lawmakers described as “Islamist entryism” and the influence of Muslim Brotherhood networks within European institutions and civil society.
The measure urges member states to provide information allowing the Council of the European Union to assess whether Brotherhood-linked individuals and organizations meet the criteria for terrorist designation. It also calls for scrutiny of alleged front organizations, financial networks, youth groups, and other entities associated with the movement.
Although the vote does not itself designate any organization as a terrorist group, it places political pressure on EU institutions and national governments to consider such action.
The resolution also calls on the European Commission to investigate whether EU funding has reached Brotherhood-associated organizations and to strengthen safeguards against public money being directed toward Islamist networks.
The initiative was spearheaded by the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), the Parliament’s largest political group, and drew support from conservative and centrist lawmakers.
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, French EPP lawmaker Céline Imart, who led the group’s efforts, called for a crackdown on Islamist influence while emphasizing the distinction between religious freedom and political extremism.
“We need to make sure Europe doesn’t fund Islamists. Islam as a faith and political Islam as an ideology must not be conflated. We must protect both democracy and religious freedom,” Imart said.
“Where rules allow, the Council should list individuals and organisations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist entities. European money must not fund groups that threaten our rights and freedoms,” she added.
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group, which also pushed for the measure, celebrated its passage.
“A massive victory for our hard work!” the group declared Thursday, describing its objective as “no funding, no collaboration and no more Muslim Brotherhood entryism in European institutions and Member States.”
The European Jewish Congress also welcomed the vote, calling it an important step toward confronting extremist networks and their financing while urging the Council to act on Parliament’s position.
The vote follows mounting scrutiny of the Brotherhood’s activities across Europe, including a May 2025 French government investigation that raised concerns about the movement’s alleged efforts to expand its influence through religious associations, educational institutions, and civil society organizations.
France’s National Assembly subsequently passed a resolution in January urging consideration of an EU terrorist designation.
The European Parliament’s vote follows similar action by President Donald Trump’s administration, which designated three Muslim Brotherhood chapters as terrorist entities in January after ordering a review of the movement’s branches in November.
The State Department designated the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, while the Treasury Department designated the Egyptian and Jordanian chapters as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, citing their support for Hamas.
“These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the time.
The European Parliament’s resolution now leaves EU institutions and member states to determine whether to pursue similar designations and implement the proposed restrictions on funding and institutional cooperation.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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