The Muslim Brotherhood do they seek to influence German political life? In any case, this is the warning that Sinan Selen, president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), domestic intelligence, would have sent during a parliamentary breakfast organized behind closed doors in the Bundestag. According to information from the German daily Bildthe head of intelligence alerted several deputies to an influence strategy carried out by the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Far from a violent logic, this would be based on long-term work aimed at establishing relationships with elected officials, public officials and civil society organizations in order to gradually influence certain political decisions according to a vision inspired by Sharia law.
The Muslim Brotherhood is an international movement present in many countries and structured around a vast network of organizations. Although they have historically maintained links with different branches of political Islam throughout the world, their strategy in Europe is based more on cultural, associative and political influence than on violent action. The 2024 report of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution thus identifies the German Muslim Community (Deutsche Muslimische Gemeinschaft) as “the most important and central organization” of the movement of sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood across the Rhine. The German authorities estimate this network to consist of around 1,450 people, plus various partners and associated organizations.
Still according to information reported by Bildsecurity circles believe that parties located on the left of the political spectrum could be more exposed to these attempts at rapprochement. This situation could be explained both by a sometimes insufficient knowledge of the structures of political Islam and by a desire for dialogue likely to be exploited by certain networks.
At the beginning of May, in a response to a parliamentary question, the German federal government indicated that it did not have “currently no information” reporting a “targeted infiltration” parties represented in the Bundestag by Islamist organizations. At the same time, the executive refused to further detail the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, citing reasons related to the protection of state interests and the work of intelligence services.
