First official step to stop European funding for Brotherhood leadership
The European Parliament on Thursday took the first step to stop Brussels funding Brotherhood organizations and leaders in the old continent.
Parliament held a session this week on the issue of the Brotherhood’s Arabs and Austrian political expert Farid Hafez.
European MP Markus Ferber introduced a bill to stop European funding for individuals and associations linked to radical Islamist groups.
The draft states that “Hafez has repeatedly received funds from the European Union’s budget, despite his close association with the Brotherhood and the Turkish government, and his allocation of the annual European-funded Islamophobia report to silence voices critical of political Islam,” according to what was reported by the Austrian newspaper, Volksplatt, on Thursday evening.
The draft, adopted by the European Parliament by a two-thirds majority, calls on the Commission of the European Union to “change the eligibility criteria for the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Program, in order to prevent individuals and organizations with disturbing views from receiving EU funding”.
The decision is a non-binding recommendation, but it is the first formal step in stopping European funding for radical Islamists.
Austrian MP Lukas Mandl told the newspaper he “hopes the commission will follow this recommendation from the European Parliament.”
“In recent days, European reports have revealed that Brotherhood-linked institutions such as Islamic Relief and the European Islamic Union have received substantial funding from the EU, prompting considerable criticism.”
Farid Hafez is a controversial figure. He publishes an annual anti-Islamophobia report, but the report is aimed at demonizing critics of the Brotherhood and the Turkish government, according to Austrian reports.
He is also one of the main suspects in Austria’s ongoing investigation into the Brotherhood, and was one of 30 suspects whose homes were raided by Austrian authorities in a counterterrorism raid last 9 November.
