A French Interior Ministry report examining the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood has stirred controversy in Sweden, where its findings have drawn significant attention. The report’s repeated mentions of Sweden have been widely covered by local media, prompting Sweden’s right-wing government and its far-right allies to accuse the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The report, titled “Muslim Brotherhood and Political Islamism in France” and published on May 21, identifies Sweden – along with the United Kingdom, Germany, and Austria – as a country where “the need for an assessment of the [Muslim] Brotherhood movement is being felt.” The authors claim that “evidence gathered attests to [the organization’s] active presence” in Sweden, as well as in the Netherlands and Denmark.
The report alleges that the Swedish branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, “though small in size, is characterized by its influence over the movement’s European structures.” This influence, the report states, “is explained by the supply of funding from Qatar, the great tolerance of Sweden’s multiculturalist policies, and the good relations between the movement and local political parties, particularly the Swedish Social Democratic Party.”
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