07-07-2025
Macron to hear plans for dealing with Muslim Brotherhood influence on French society
French President Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to head a meeting with cabinet ministers on Monday on the Muslim Brotherhood's influence on French society, six weeks after the government published a report that mapped out the group's network of influence across Europe.
Mr Macron had told ministers to come up with "new proposals" after a Defence Council meeting in late May, "given the importance of the subject and the seriousness of the established facts", the presidential office said at the time.
This was reported as a rebuke against Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who had discussed the content of the report in the media before its publication.
A Defence Council meeting includes a restricted number of ministers. In addition to Mr Retailleau, Education Minister Elisabeth Borne and Sports Minister Marie Barsacq are expected to attend on Monday.
Youth sports associations are mentioned in the report as one of the ways the Muslim Brotherhood propagates its values, considered to go against the state's founding principle of secularism, or "laicite".
Monday's meeting was initially planned for June. The government has offered no explanation for the delay. The report was requested in May 2024 by former interior minister, Gerald Darmanin.
Mr Macron is under pressure from right-wing party Les Republicains, led by Mr Retailleau, and the far-right's National Rally to toughen his stance on the Muslim Brotherhood.
"By convening this Defence Council, [he] intends to show that he is not remaining inactive on the front line of the fight against Islamist "entryism", daily newspaper Le Figaro said.
Action must be taken to stop the spread of political Islamist extremism, said the report, written by former French ambassador Francois Gouyette and prefect Pascal Courtade. It was made public by the Interior Ministry on May 25.
'The reality of this threat, even if it is long-term and does not involve violent action, poses a risk of damage to the fabric of society and republican institutions … and, more broadly, to national cohesion,' it said of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The report highlighted the role of the Union of Islamic Organisations of France, which has acted as a linchpin for the Brotherhood across France.
"The organisation has constantly sought to position itself as an interlocutor of the public authorities and displayed a typically Brotherhood desire to represent the entire French Muslim population, even though it constitutes only a fraction of it of more than relative importance," the report said.
