France deals blow to Muslim Brotherhood with Nantes event ban

PARIS – 23 May 2026: French authorities on Saturday upheld a ban on an annual Muslim gathering organized by the Musulmans de France (MF), widely considered to be the French branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the western city of Nantes.

The annual event, known as the “Meeting of Muslims of Western France,” had been scheduled to take place over the weekend in Nantes.

The Loire-Atlantique prefecture banned the gathering at the request of Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.

Authorities said the ban was motivated by the planned participation of senior members of the MF, who were considered likely to make remarks that could constitute criminal offences.

 

In a statement posted on X, Nuñez said the court had confirmed the legality of the ban, adding that statements expected at the gathering were “liable to undermine the principles and values of the Republic, national cohesion and human dignity.”

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu welcomed the ruling, calling it “an important step in the fight against the infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

“Faced with political Islamism, the Republic must be firm, precise and legally irreproachable,” Lecornu wrote on X.