"Nice is deeply permeated by this Islamism": far-right opposition politician Philippe Vardon wants an assessment of the situation

"We must not allow the Muslim Brotherhood's propaganda to spread. We must close the propaganda sites in Nice," asserts Philippe Vardon, a municipal and metropolitan councillor in Nice, now a member of Identity-Liberties, the party that emerged from Common Sense, chaired by Marion Maréchal. According to him, 80% of the mosques in Nice are linked to the Muslims of France, formerly the UOIF, the Union of Islamic Organisations of France, which emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

"I've been denouncing it for fifteen years," continues the elected official, previously labeled National Rally, then Reconquest, Eric Zemmour's party. Not surprised, therefore, by the content of the report presented on Wednesday at the Defense Council , which has sparked a nationwide debate. A document which establishes that the Muslim Brotherhood and its "entryism from below" could be "a threat to national cohesion."

The indignation of French Muslims

"Riddled with approximations and misleading interpretations, this report is part of a worrying pattern of stigmatization, criminalization, and repression targeting Muslim individuals and organizations committed to defending their dignity and rights," the Muslims of France association said indignantly, adding its voice to that of many Muslims.

"Nice is deeply imbued with this Islamism," the far-right elected official insists. He adds: "Hani Ramadan is the junction between the different components of local Islamism. Brother of the highly publicized Tariq Ramadan, he is above all the son of Saïd Ramadan, who contributed to the development of the Brotherhood in Palestine, which would give rise to Hamas, and then in Europe, and the grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood himself." Hani Ramadan was invited to Nice, notably in 2016, by the former imam of the Attaqwa mosque in Moulins.

"Break off any form of relationship"

But Philippe Vardon also and above all denounces "the links maintained by local authorities and these religious bodies." Here again, he insists: "I have been saying this for a very long time." "Christian Estrosi himself welcomed this report and demonstrated his closeness to the Minister of the Interior, I ask him again, I ask the municipality to break off all forms of relations with imams, mosques, and associations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood," insists the elected official from Nice. He also wrote to the new prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Laurent Hottiaux, "to ask him for an inventory of the Brotherhood networks in the Department, particularly in Nice, and especially the measures he intends to take in the face of this threat."

The Cagnes mosque in the sights of Bryan Masson

On the other side of the Var, Bryan Masson, the RN MP for the 6th constituency of the Alpes-Maritimes, had, as early as last April, submitted a written question to the Minister of the Interior on this subject, in connection with the Cagnes mosque project. The RN MP was concerned about "potential links between the Muslim Brotherhood and an association supporting the project of a future mosque, the source of funding for which remains a source of concern for both local residents and worshippers."