Suspicious activities of Muslim Brotherhood in Germany

Since the 1960s, the "terrorist" Brotherhood group has been able to establish its leaders in Germany. 

Following the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi's government on June 30, 2013, the group has spread throughout the world, but its leadership and active members are concentrated in several European nations, including Britain. Germany and Austria, as well as Qatar and Turkey. 

When the July revolutionaries, who had close ties to East Germany at the time, fled Egypt and Syria, West Germany was the only country, after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to take in Brotherhood cadres. Members of the organization and their supporters started to leave in consecutive groups in the 1960s.

As far as Germany is concerned, the influence of MB networks continues to be a factor. However, there is an ongoing and very lively debate about which networks can be considered part of the Muslim Brotherhood. 

This results in a diverse picture, as far as the size and number of members of the MB in Germany is concerned. One rough guideline comes from the annual public reports of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).

On the other hand, the Offices for the Protection of the Constitution in the federal states of Germany (LfVs) also monitor the activities of MB networks in Germany and if these numbers are combined, a slightly different assessment emerges. 

While this diversity of data makes it a challenge to arrive at a precise overall assessment as to the precise size and influence of MB networks in Germany, what emerges clearly from the various official datasets is that MB networks remain a factor within the extremist Islamist community in Germany.

MB networks are characterized by the German security authorities as belonging to the “legalistic extremist Islamist” strand. This denotes a difference between networks that promote and use violence on the one side, such as, for example, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS), and on the other side, networks, like the MB, that, while actively working towards undermining the basic freedoms and democratic structure of Germany, do not openly propagate or use violence towards this end.

However, while in a country such as Germany the MB networks are not propagating violence, it is important to note that this is a tactical, not strategic, decision. When observed on a global level, the MB networks’ relationship with violence is varied, with some MB networks justifying and even conducting violence.

Therefore, while German security authorities agree that there is not a threat of violence emanating directly from the MB networks within Germany, the activities of these networks undermines the basic pillars of the free and democratic order (freiheitlich demokratische Grundordung or FDGO) in Germany. This is the reason why the BfV and LfVs in Germany continuously monitor the activities of MB networks in Germany.