Belgian Government Cuts Funding for Muslim Executive Amid Governance Crisis

The Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, has announced that the government has decided not to grant the subsidies to which the Executive of Muslims of Belgium (EMB) can claim for the year 2022, reports SaphirNews. The EMB had requested funding of 639,000 euros for next year. This subsidy will not be paid to the EMB due to the "current circumstances", explains the minister.

Schism, accusations of misappropriation of funds, Freezing of the subsidy intended for the training of imams, accusations of three people close to the Grand Mosque of spying and interfering in the affairs of the Muslim faith on behalf of Morocco, formal notice, regionalization... The EMB is going through an unprecedented crisis.

A few days earlier, an interministerial conference dedicated to the functioning of the EMB, which is facing legal proceedings initiated by three members who are asking for the appointment of an administrator to manage the body, was organized. For their part, the leaders of the Muslim organization assure that they are currently working on a renewal of the EMB. Elections are scheduled for February 2022.