French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanen condemned on Thursday in Luxembourg the “naivety” of European institutions in the face of the “atmosphere of jihadism” that “allows radicalization” and “takes measures”, according to the AFP news agency. quoted by Agerpres.

“We must without naivety fight against this ecosystem, against this atmospheric jihadism,” Darmanin said after arriving for a meeting with European colleagues. According to the minister, “there is still a bit of naivety, in the institutions of some countries or the European Union, in the way we demonstrate our authority (…) and, in general, in the fight for what France calls secularism. “.

“Several times I have warned the European Commission that the European institutions are funding associations in the national territory of France, for which we have reduced subsidies, for which we have initiated liquidation actions,” he continued.

These decisions were made because these associations “did not respect equality between women and men, because they did not respect sexual freedom or religious freedom, or because they believed that French secularism was some kind of enemy,” Darmanin emphasized.

“Several times I had to invest a lot of political energy in stopping the European funding of these associations in France,” he said.

France accused the European Commission of supporting Islamist organizations

In 2021 and 2022, Paris notably protested the European Commission’s support for Femyso, the European confederation of Muslim youth associations, saying it was “not in line” with the values ​​of secularism in France.

Currently, the association no longer receives funding from the Commission, a spokesman for the EU executive said.

“It’s about a few associations, not about hundreds of structures, but this naivety, I mean, unfortunately also supports this separatist ecosystem that allows people to act,” explained the French minister.

“We have to fight against everyone who supports this atmosphere. It is true that there are few radicalized places of worship, but they do exist and must be dealt with. There are associations that act against European interests and values, they must be fought,” he insisted.

European interior ministers are meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday, days after two jihadist attacks killed a French teacher in Arras and two Swedish supporters in Brussels. In the morning, the ministers of France, Sweden, Belgium and Germany took part in discussions on cooperation in the fight against terrorism.