Interviews

EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour is interviewed in Germany's Zeit newspaper on why the Islamic State militant group attracts German Muslims, what we might expect from those who return from the conflict, and how we can work to prevent radicalisation....

EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour was interviewed on German radio on radicalisation of youths in Germany. He speaks about how young people are drawn to jihad because they are looking for structure and meaning in their lives, and that psychological factors contribute to their radicalisation. Furthermore, he expresses regret that the issue of radicalisation has not been brought up in the German Senate....

EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour is interviewed on German radio about the reasons why radical groups can be appealing to young Muslims, and what can be done to discourage this trend....

Ahmad Mansour talk about the intercultural (in)tolerance and how there is still a lot left to do. He also addresses the issue of radicalisation and the role that groups like “The True Religion” and Muslim organisations actually play and the one they should play....

Ahead of the Moses Mendelssohn award ceremony, EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour is interviewed on his work with numerous projects in Germany to foster integration, tolerance and gender equality, and to prevent anti-Semitism, radicalisation and honour-based oppression in the Muslim community....

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino, in an interview published in Avvenire, explains how "keyboard jihadis" are on the rise. Whilst in the 90s it was in the mosque that radicalisaion occurred, today youths learn about jihadism online....

Following his appearance on Germany's Log-in television programme, Ahmad Mansour takes part in a webchat with viewers on a number of issues relating to the social challenges posed by fundamentalist interpretations of Islam....

The Mare Nostrum Project, a project funded by the EU that explores new ways to protect the Mediterranean Sea, saved the lives of 3500 refugees wanting to reach the shores of Southern Italy this summer. In an interview published on L'Occidentale, EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino calls for for the West to use these success stories to counter the negative narratives that attract young people to jihad....

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino discusses the threats posed by Islamic extremism and “online jihadism” in Italy. He explains that in Italy, contrary to popular belief, immigration is not connected to terrorism or the threat posed by the “Islamic State”....

In an interview featured on Rai News, EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino delves into the issue of European foreign fighters and explains what role they play in Iraq and Syria....

EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour speaks with journalist Teresa Eder about anti-Semitism among young people with migrant backgrounds in Austria – a phenomenon which has become increasingly pronounced amid the renewed conflict in the Middle East....

In an interview on Servizio Informazione Religiosa, EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo discusses the role of women in Islam, explaining how the perceived subordination of women is being defended by Koranic interpretation. She says that women are the key to the advancement of Islam and explains that is especially the case because there are as many Islamic women as there are “Islams”....

Amid rising tensions in Germany due to the ongoing crisis in Gaza, EFD's Ahmad Mansour voices his concern about the increasingly pronounced anti-Semitism among Germany's young Muslims....

EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo states that The Arab Spring has led to the ‘legitimisation’ of the Muslim Brotherhood and urges Europe to remain cautious....

EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo is interviewed on Italian web-based radio station oltreradio.it about the Islamist group Boko Haram. Her analysis covers group's history; previous attacks it has carried out; its heightened fundamentalism following the Arab Spring; the increasing use of media as a communication vehicle; attempts to prevent the education of women and girls; and the necessity of Nigeria's government to act against this Islamist...

In an interview with the Tunisian newspaper Al-Maghreb, EFD Senior Fellow Bakary Sambe says that the Libyan crisis has contributed to the spread of jihadist groups in northern Mali and in the region of southern Algeria....

EFD Senior Fellow Wahied Wahdat-Hagh talks to Austria's Der Standard about the choice of candidates in Iran's presidential elections....

EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour says that as long as secular voices in the Arab world are not tolerated, prospects for change remain elusive....

EFD Senior Fellow Bakary Sambe discusses the prospect of military intervention in Mali with Ouestafnews....

EFD’s Valentina Colombo speaks to the Italian intelligence magazine GNOSIS about the risk of “homegrown terrorism” in a period of cultural uncertainties....

According to Eleana Gordon, EFD Senior Advisor and founder of the Center for Liberty in the Middle East, presenting its latest initiative, the Institute of Online Activism at the World e-Democracy Forum in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Paris), 30 % of bloggers in the Middle East are women....

EFD Fellow Wahied Wahdat-Hagh is interviewed by ZENIT on the topic of Christians in Iran....

Alexander Ritzmann, senior fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy in Brussels, discusses the reasons to have Hizballah declared a terrorist organization in Europe. A specialist on the radicalization of Muslims in Germany and Europe, as well as on Hizballah and Hamas, he is a former member of the Berlin State Parliament and a senior member of the Free Democratic Party in Germany....