On Tuesday, June 30, the European People’s Party (EPP), the EU’s largest political force, passed separate resolutions calling for significant changes to current migration and security policies. Regarding Islam, the resolution asserts that the religion is being politically exploited via entryism to destabilize European democratic institutions. The party is advocating for authorities to map out networks of Islamist organizations, reduce funding to civil society groups involved in related activities, and enhance intelligence operations concerning the faith. The EPP document equates this activity to meddling by Russia and China, framing it as an undue interference in democratic processes.
This policy stance arrives despite findings from Germany’s federal intelligence agency identifying right-wing extremism as the primary threat to domestic democracy. It also follows previous, debunked allegations that the EU was providing indirect funding to the Muslim Brotherhood. The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) criticized the resolution, arguing that it promotes racist innuendos that label Muslims as inherent threats, thereby legitimizing exclusion and heightened suspicion. According to the NGO, the rhetoric of community protection used by the EPP masks policies that actively harm Muslims, trapping them in a cycle where active political engagement results in being branded as an Islamist.
In the migration sector, the EPP is seeking to scrap subsidiary protection status. The party claims this move is intended to facilitate the faster return of refugees once civil wars or conflicts in their home countries have concluded. Data from Eurostat indicates that over 155,000 individuals received subsidiary protection in 2024, following 72,000 recipients the previous year. Under current EU rules, this status is granted to those who do not qualify as refugees but would face serious harm if returned, such as torture, the death penalty, or indiscriminate violence from armed conflict.
EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner addressed the group’s political assembly in Vienna, praising the EPP’s shift in migration policy and their role in establishing new deportation legislation. The assembly’s migration resolution also proposes banning asylum claims for individuals who cross external borders during state-led efforts to destabilize the EU. Brunner noted that he had personally witnessed Belarusian authorities forcing migrants across the border, characterizing the action as using people as weapons against the European Union.
