FEMYSO and EMF Statements Trace Cross-Border Support for Student Protests Amid Muslim Brotherhood-Link Allegations
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The Arab Post
- . October 27, 2026
- . Update: October 27, 2026 3:15 pm
The statements released in 2026 by the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO) and its French member organisation, Étudiants Musulmans de France (EMF), record a series of public expressions of support for student and youth movements in various European countries. FEMYSO Muslim Brotherhood link allegations, FEMYSO showed solidarity with the students in France, Belgium and then with those in Albania who protested. In its October 18th statement, it also mentioned student protests regarding educational and housing expenses in Greece and youth protests related to the housing crisis in Spain.
The sequence has come under scrutiny due to reports by the French authorities and Parliament about alleged connections between FEMYSO and the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. FEMYSO denies those allegations. These are statements that create public support and, in the case of EMF, a call to action for involvement in a French mobilisation. They are not necessarily evidence of FEMYSO’s coordination of demonstrations in all five countries, or the overall movements.
October 9: FEMYSO Publicly Backs Student Demands in France and Belgium
FEMYSO had issued a statement, FEMYSO Stands in Solidarity with Students in France and Belgium Demanding Their Right to Quality Education on October 9.
The Brussels-based network “backed students demanding improved educational conditions, proper funding and protection of their rights,” it said. It highlighted issues related to school resources and inequality, and condemned “excessive force” against student protesters.
“Excessive use of force against minors exercising their rights is unacceptable”, said FEMYSO.
It also urged the powers that be in France and Belgium to seriously consider students’ demands and to investigate the claims of police maladministration. This is a direct reflection of FEMYSO’s public support to the student movements in both countries. It has nothing to say about the demonstrations being organised by FEMYSO or the leadership thereof.
October 15: EMF Calls for Participation in French Demonstrations
On October 15, EMF issued the declaration “Ce 17 octobre, aux côtés de la jeunesse mobilisée“, declaring its support for the October 17 demonstrations.
It included the names of cities such as Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux or Strasbourg and urged students, education staff, workers and more broadly the social movement to participate in the mobilisation. EMF said it will persist with young people to “construire le rapport de force”—strengthen the collective pressure for gaining access to education and decent learning environments.
It alleged that there was a shortage of teachers, poor conditions in schools and the poverty of its students, as well as unequal access to education. The announcement is not just a blanket statement of solidarity, it’s a call to action, calling for a mobilisation that is listed.The announcement isn’t a generalised solidarity statement, it’s a call to action, a call to mobilise at a specific mobilisation.
FEMYSO’s institutional link with EMF is recognized on the FEMYSO member directory which recognizes Étudiants Musulmans de France as one of the French member organisations of FEMYSO. This creates a formal connection between the two organisations and demonstrates that a FEMYSO member openly invited people to join the French demonstrations. Does not prove that EMF instigated the entire movement, or other groups worked under EMF.
October 17: A National Mobilisation Involved Multiple Groups
October 17’s protest was set against a backdrop of broader public complaints about living standards, public services and school standards. The interior minister put the total attendance at about 550,000, while organisers said they counted about 800,000 marchers. Among the groups backing the protests were the CGT labour union and student groups, the report said.
These numbers give an idea of the magnitude of the mobilisation, but since they do not prove that EMF or FEMYSO mobilised the national mobilisations, they should not be interpreted as proof of that. There have also been reports of fires, looting and clashes; which also need to be substantiated before assigning responsibility to any given organisation. The call by EMF is only a call to action to participate, not to be associated with violent acts.
October 18: FEMYSO Names Albania, Greece and Spain in a Wider European Appeal
On 18 October, FEMYSO released its second statement: “FEMYSO Stands in Solidarity with Students in Albania Demanding Accountability and the Right to Quality Education”.
The organisation showed an interest in supporting the protests of the Albanian students and young people against corruption, government policies and educational conditions. It demanded that police be held accountable for alleged abuses and declared: “The right to peaceful assembly should not be denied, intimidated or met with excessive force.” The information regarding police conduct which may be found in those claims is FEMYSO’s version and is viewed as such unless it is independently substantiated.
The same was said of students protesting in Greece about the high cost of education and housing, and young people in Spain calling for a solution to the housing problem. FEMYSO ended with expressing solidarity with students and young people in Albania and in Europe in general.
There was a difference: The October 18 statement was a statement of solidarity with protesters in Albania and talked about movements in Greece and Spain. It did not publish separate country specific statements to these two movements in the material that it studied. It is intended to be read in conjunction with the statements of October 9 and 15, but it describes a series of public statements made by France, Belgium and Albania, and mentions other statements made elsewhere, such as in Greece and Spain.
Muslim Brotherhood-Link Allegations Have Drawn Official Scrutiny
The discussion of the broader political entanglements of FEMYSO has been underway before the October protests. In December 2025, a French National Assembly inquiry report cited a statement by the French Interior Ministry that said FEMYSO was a “structure” which was training “potential cadres” for the Muslim Brotherhood movement and spreading its ideology within Europe’s institutions and officials. These are not independent adjudications of the French authorities or the parliamentary inquiry, but rather assessments given in the context of these bodies.
FEMYSO has denied the charges. It has condemned these “false and malicious accusations” in a March 2019 statement, stating that it was an “independent youth focused civil society organisation”.
The matter was put on the agenda again by the European Parliament on October 8, 2026, when the legislators voted on the resolution on combating the Islamist entryism and effects of the Muslim Brotherhood with a result of 381 votes to 167 and 15 abstentions. The official record from the Parliament includes criticism of the role that FEMYSO had in the parliamentary event and expresses recommendation to limit the actions of the organisations mentioned in the resolution, which are said to be related to the Council of European Muslims, including FEMYSO. The document demonstrates political scrutiny but does not state that FEMYSO or EMF were the organisers or initiators of the protests among students in question.
The parliamentary record also differentiates between political Islamism and Islam. Therefore, an assessment of claims about the influence of the organisations should rely on evidence related to specific organisations and actions and not to the general statements about the Muslim community.
The Statements Show Public Support, Not Proof of Centralised Coordination – FEMYSO Muslim Brotherhood link allegations
The events that occurred between October 9 and 18 point to three specific aspects: JEMYSO publicly advocated students in France and Belgium; the French member organisation EMF called for participation in the protests on October 17; and FEMYSO displayed solidarity with Albanians, mentioning movements taking place in Greece and Spain.
The statements mentioned here illustrate how an established European youth network and its member organisation amplified concerns related to education, cost of living, and housing problems. They also lay the foundation for investigating these activities in the context of official inquiries regarding FEMYSO’s alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
At the same time, it has to be noted that public demonstration of solidarity and the call for mobilization from a member organization do not imply leadership in these protests or specify that FEMYSO has played any central role in protests taking place across five countries. This calls for seeking additional information to buttress the claims made in the statements.
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