French Interior Minister Opposes Funding for Strasbourg Mosque Linked to Political Islam

In another tweet published late in the morning, Minister Gérald Darmanin made known that he had asked the prefect of the Grand Est and Bas-Rhin regions "to refer the municipal council’s deliberation on the granting of a subsidy to the administrative court", reports AFP.

On Monday, the Strasbourg Municipal Council adopted "the principle of a subsidy" of more than 2.5 million euros to support the Millî Görüş (CIMG) association in its mosque construction project. According to the EELV mayor of Strasbourg, Jeanne Barseghian, this subsidy represents "10% of the amount of the work", specifying that it is a usual percentage to support the construction of places of worship.

The municipal opposition does not approve of this decision. In any case, the payment of the subsidy must be authorized by a new vote of the Municipal Council. Mayor Jeanne Barseghian proposed on Monday to tighten the conditions for obtaining the subsidy, by requiring for example the prior signing of the Charter of the Principles of Islam in France or guarantees of good management of the funds to be allocated.

For the record, the Millî Görüş association refused in January to sign the Charter of the Principles of Islam in France.