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https://www.dw.com/en/austria-calls-for-european-register-of-muslim-imams/a-56114597
Austria calls for European register of Muslim imams,” by Davis VanOpdorp, DW, January 2, 2021:
Since the start of 2021, Austria has required the registration of all imams in the country.
The mandate was one of several new measures Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s government adopted after a November 2 terror attack in Vienna. Four civilians were killed and 23 injured after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire in the center of the Austrian capital.
Now Austria is calling for the European Union to adopt the registration of imams, the worship leaders of Mosques in Muslim communities.
Why is Austria calling for EU imam registration?
In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt published Saturday, Austria’s Minister for European Affairs Karoline Edtstadler said Imam registration was key for “the fight against political Islam.”
“Most imams move through many EU countries, so the security authorities need to know who is preaching what in which mosque at any given time,” Edtstadler, a member of Kurz’s conservative Austrian People’s Party, told the newspaper.
She also believes EU funds should be “so strictly controlled in the future that they do not go to organizations and associations that advocate Islamist and anti-Semitic positions.” A ban on foreign financing for mosques, which is already in place in Austria, is also conceivable, she said….