Vienna Forum: “4 countries unite their efforts to confront Brotherhood terrorism in Europe”
At the conclusion of the Vienna Forum to Confront Political Islam, which was held in the Austrian capital, on Thursday, Austria, France, Belgium and Denmark stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation at all levels to confront the threat of the spread of the terrorist group in European countries.
During the conference, which was attended by a group of political and diplomatic figures from different countries of the European continent, the Austrian Minister of Integration Susan Raab stressed the seriousness of the challenges facing countries, specifically France, Denmark and Austria, due to the penetration of extremist organizations, explaining that political Islam is a problem in the three countries. Fighting it begins with attempts to separate, create parallel societies, and spread extremism.
Raab revealed the establishment of cooperation, starting from Thursday, at all political levels, pointing to the need for intensive cooperation with neighboring countries in the same regard. specific to this file.
The head of the European Center for Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Studies, Jassem Mohamed, believes that the step taken by the Austrian government to ban the Muslim Brotherhood and its activities is a step in a long way to combat extremism and terrorism.
He refers to all the measures that the Austrian government subsequently initiated as a necessity to uproot terrorism and extremist ideology from the country, and it is likely that the coming days will witness greater restrictions on the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood and other extremist organizations, as well as efforts to dry up the sources of funding.
He explained in a statement to “Sky News Arabia” that it has become possible, after the decision to ban the Brotherhood, that the danger posed by the organization’s clandestine work in Austrian cities will increase, and that the extent of the unlimited influence of the ideologies of the Brotherhood and extremist groups on their affiliates will expand.
The Austrian government had launched a new center whose mission is to monitor extremist institutions and organizations in the country as a step to combat political Islam. The allocation of an integrated government unit to track political Islam activists in Vienna reveals the inadequacy of the intelligence services alone in tracking the organization’s maneuvers and “democratic” tricks to practice its agendas, as the associative work and mosque institutions In addition to charitable work, it is considered one of the most prominent areas of political Islam’s activity.
Last week, Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehmer confirmed that he had agreed with the Netherlands to form a joint working group to combat terrorism within the framework of expanding security cooperation between the two countries.
Last June, Austria strengthened measures to combat extremism by banning the symbols and slogans of the Brotherhood and several other extremist organizations, as well as intensifying control over the organization’s investments and financial institutions, which represent corridors for financing terrorism and extremism.
Austria has been waging a fierce war against political Islam organizations, with the Muslim Brotherhood at the heart of it, since the middle of last year, after the bloody events in Vienna, which prompted the country to implement a comprehensive strategy to combat terrorism in the country, targeting dozens of institutions, mosques and organizations affiliated with the Brotherhood, after its involvement in terrorist operations was proven. Terrorism, according to intelligence and security reports.
On June 22, 2021, the Austrian Parliament announced the ban on the Brotherhood and prevented it from practicing any political activity in Austria.
This surprising measure was among the latest measures taken to combat extremism and terrorism and to confront the threat of political Islam, which is the adoption of a new law aimed at strengthening the state’s efforts to ban the activities of terrorist organizations, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, thus making Austria the first European country to officially ban the organization.
