The European Parliament voted Thursday to back a resolution urging the European Union to consider adding Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations and individuals to its terrorist list, in a move that puts pressure on EU member states and institutions to act against the Islamist movement’s networks across the bloc.
Lawmakers approved the measure by a vote of 381-167, with 15 abstentions. The resolution calls for a coordinated strategy among member states to counter what it describes as “Islamist entryism” — the alleged infiltration of European institutions and civil society by Muslim Brotherhood-linked networks.
The vote itself does not designate any group as a terrorist organization. Instead, it asks member states to supply information that would let the Council of the European Union assess whether Brotherhood-linked individuals and organizations meet the legal threshold for such a designation. It also calls for closer scrutiny of alleged front groups, financial networks, and youth organizations tied to the movement.
The resolution additionally asks the European Commission to investigate whether EU funds have reached Brotherhood-associated organizations and to tighten safeguards preventing public money from flowing to Islamist networks.
Who backed the measure
The push came from the European People’s Party, the Parliament’s largest political group, with support from conservative and centrist lawmakers. French EPP member Céline Imart, who led the effort, said the goal was to stop European funds from reaching Islamist causes while preserving religious freedom.
“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 Group, which also supported the resolution, celebrated the outcome, calling it “a massive victory for our hard work” and stating its aim as ending “funding, collaboration and … Muslim Brotherhood entryism in European institutions and Member States.”
The European Jewish Congress also welcomed the vote, describing it as an important step toward confronting extremist financing networks and calling on the Council to follow through on Parliament’s position.
Background
The resolution follows a French government investigation in May 2025 that raised concerns about the Brotherhood’s alleged efforts to expand influence through religious associations, schools, and civil society groups. France’s National Assembly passed its own resolution in January urging the EU to consider a terrorist designation.
The European vote also follows action in the United States, where the Trump administration designated three Muslim Brotherhood chapters as terrorist entities in January after ordering a review of the movement’s branches the previous 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 over 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.
It is now up to EU institutions and individual member states to decide whether to pursue formal terrorist designations and implement the funding and cooperation restrictions Parliament has called for.
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