A Western tightening around the Muslim Brotherhood: Washington shakes European hesitation
The new American approach toward the Muslim Brotherhood signals an unprecedented phase of firmness toward the group’s branches worldwide, particularly in Europe.
In many European countries, debates are intensifying over legal and political means to confront the group, which is classified as a terrorist organization in several states.
Last January, the United States designated the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as a terrorist organization, a shift also reflected in its 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy published this month by the White House.
The American strategy presented an unprecedented view directly linking the Muslim Brotherhood to the ideological framework from which groups such as Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, and Hamas emerged.
Additional measures and an eye on Europe
This decision is likely to be followed by additional measures against the group’s branches, according to Lorenzo Vidino, director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, in an article on the center’s website.
These steps are fueling serious debate within political, intelligence, and law enforcement circles in Europe. Draft decisions to ban the group have already been introduced in several European capitals, reflecting growing awareness of what is perceived as its threat.
Recently, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez provided a clear analysis of the prevailing dynamics, not only in France — often regarded as one of the strictest countries on the continent regarding the Muslim Brotherhood — but also in other European states.
In this regard, Lorenzo Vidino said: “There is no doubt that the U.S. position gives momentum to strong measures against the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe, and it is also reasonable to expect that the United States may designate some Muslim Brotherhood organizations present in Europe.”
He added: “In Europe, it cannot be ignored that Americans are taking certain positions, and some actors within European policymaking, law enforcement, and intelligence circles analyze the Muslim Brotherhood issue in the same way as the Donald Trump administration.”
He noted that this negative perception of the Muslim Brotherhood is not limited to the more conservative ends of the European political spectrum, but is in fact widespread within intelligence services, law enforcement agencies, and even judicial authorities across the continent.
Reports from intelligence and law enforcement agencies across European countries consistently express a highly critical view of the Muslim Brotherhood, sometimes pointing to direct or indirect links with international terrorism.
However, the framework used by European institutions also includes the group’s role in hindering social integration and cohesion, as well as human rights and democracy.
Growing awareness
In Spain, for example, the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) expressed its view in a court case in 2020 when a court refused to grant citizenship to a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The center stated that “J. is an active member of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood, an organization with a broad international structure.”
Belgium’s State Security Service noted in its 2020 annual report that “the Muslim Brotherhood and its highly qualified members are often present within many non-profit organizations and other groups across all areas of society. This makes them more influential than one might expect given their limited number of members.”
It added that “the discourse, beliefs, and vision internally adopted by the group in the long term conflict with the proper functioning of the constitutional system and democracy. It is an extremist movement.”
Austria’s intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT), stated that “the Muslim Brotherhood does not keep membership records in order to keep its composition secret, and seeks to establish a totalitarian system that does not guarantee popular sovereignty or the principles of freedom and equality.”
It considered that “such a fundamental stance contradicts the legal and social standards of the Republic of Austria.”
Meanwhile, Sweden’s security service, Swedish Security Service, believes that “the objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood conflict with fundamental freedoms and rights in Sweden, and that its strategy in the Western world is based on isolation and self-segregation.”
