Macron asks the French government actions against the Muslim Brotherhood. A broad report on the “severity” of the situation

President Emmanuel Macron ordered the government on Wednesday to develop proposals in the context of the “severity of the facts” established in a report on the Muslim Brotherhood of France, the Elysee Palace announced, according to AFP.

“Given the importance of the subject and the seriousness of the established facts, he asked the Government to create new proposals that will be examined at a future meeting of the Defense Council from the beginning of June,” said representatives of the Elysee Palace.

Emmanuel Macron chaired a meeting on Wednesday in which the Defense Council analyzed a confidential government report in which the Muslim Brotherhood is described as a “threat to the national cohesion” of France and appealing to actions to stop the spread of “political Islamism”, France 24 notes.

“The reality of this threat, even if it is long -term and does not involve violent actions, presents a risk of deteriorating the structure of society and republican institutions … and, wider, of national cohesion,” the report shows. AFP obtained a copy of the document on Tuesday.

France and Germany are the EU countries with the most numerous Muslim communities.

The spread of Islam in France, “a short -term and medium -term threat.”

The report speaks of a spread of “bottom -up” Islamism and at the municipal level, claiming that the phenomenon is “a short -term and medium -term threat.”

In France, the authors of the report say, the movement “is based on a solid structure, but political Islamism spreads primarily at local level.”

“The determined and long -term actions on the ground necessary to stop the ascension of political Islamism,” the report shows.

The report also speaks of the “subversive nature of the project”, saying that it aims to “gradually bring changes to local or national rules”, especially about those regarding secularism and gender equality.

Such “municipal Islam” risks affecting the public sphere and local policy, according to the report, in which it is also mentioned “the creation of more and more Islamist ecosystems.”

The French Minister of Internal Affairs, Bruno Retailleau, expressed his concern on “a low-level Islam” on Tuesday, whose “final goal is to transform the whole French society into Sharia Law.”

However, the authors of the report said that “no recent document demonstrates the wish of the Muslims in France to set up an Islamic State in France or to apply Sharia's law there.”

The Muslims in France (Muslim de France), the former Union of Islamic Organizations in France, are identified as the “national branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in France”.

“We are not dealing with an aggressive separatism”, but with a “subtle purpose (…), but no less subversive for institutions”, the authors of the report say.

The report is estimated that there are 139 places of worship affiliated with Muslims in France, with another 68 considered to be close to the federation. According to the report, it is only 7% of the 2,800 places of worship registered in France.

The Islamist movement loses its influence in the Arab world and “concentrates its efforts on Europe”, the report shows.

According to the document, a public awareness campaign must be combined with renewed efforts to promote a “secular discourse”, as well as “strong and positive signals to the Muslim community”, including by teaching the Arabic language.