Algeria Gate/Agencies: Multiple international journalistic investigations and European reports have exposed the United Arab Emirates’ systematic role in fuelling Islamophobia. Through the financing of terrorist groups and the orchestration of hostile campaigns against Islam and Muslims in the West, Abu Dhabi seeks to pressure European governments into adopting stricter policies toward Muslim communities while positioning itself as the only acceptable model of “moderate Islam.”
FairSquare Report Reveals UAE Links to Reform UK and Western Far-Right Parties
A recent report by the human rights organisation FairSquare highlights how the UAE, in its campaign against Islam and movements advocating political Islam, supports terrorist groups and maintains dubious relations with Europe’s most radical far-right parties.
Authored by FairSquare research director Alex Carlin and titled The Reform Party and the United Arab Emirates: A Threat to British Politics, the report examines the growing ties between Abu Dhabi and the British far-right party Reform UK. It places these connections within a broader Emirati strategy of forging alliances with the Western far right and influencing the policies of democratic nations.
The report notes a clear political convergence between the UAE and Reform UK. Party leader Nigel Farage had previously criticised the Emirates in 2023 as “an absolute monarchy with a deplorable human rights record.” At the same time, several senior figures from the movement have settled in the UAE.
Emirati Media Influence and Destabilising Tactics in Britain
The FairSquare report also exposes the role of British media outlets and public figures in promoting Emirati narratives. It cites GB News as an example of a media organisation that has shown strong willingness to disseminate these messages. According to the findings, the UAE has combined coercive diplomacy with illicit and destabilising tactics inside Britain to advance its political objectives.
Secret Support for Far-Right Leaders Across Europe
The same strategy extends beyond the United Kingdom. In France, Abu Dhabi provided clandestine support to Marine Le Pen—known for her hostility toward Islam—through secret meetings.
Following their normalisation with the Zionist occupation under the Abraham Accords, the UAE has exploited Western fears to claim that Islamic political movements constitute a form of ideological extremism rooted in Islam itself.
Promoting Islamophobia Through Influence Networks and Targeting Muslim Scholars
British researcher Andreas Krieg has documented how the UAE systematically associates Islam with terrorism in Europe and actively promotes Islamophobia through its influence networks. He has criticised what he describes as Emirati interference in spreading anti-Islamic discourse within European circles.
The UAE has further advanced this agenda by casting doubt on imams and Muslim scholars. On 9 March 2015, the then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi declared that “German society must remain vigilant about the people who preach in mosques and about their teachings.”
Intelligence Operations and the Alp Services Scandal
European investigations have revealed coordination between the Swiss company Alp Services and Emirati intelligence services. According to leaked information, UAE intelligence paid more than €5.5 million to the firm to compile dossiers on over 1,000 individuals across Europe and to illegally transmit the names of activists to Emirati agencies. The goal was to discredit these individuals and brand them as terrorists by linking them to extremist groups, thereby fostering widespread distrust of Muslims and Islam.
UAE Lobbying Campaigns to Distort the Image of Muslim Communities
A previous report by European Eye revealed that the UAE finances lobbying groups across Europe to shape policies and improve its own image. The report accused Abu Dhabi—one of the world’s biggest spenders on lobbying—of launching a multilingual website designed to obstruct and distort the image of Muslim communities in Europe.
Through these interconnected efforts—financing, media influence, far-right alliances, intelligence operations and lobbying—the United Arab Emirates continues to exacerbate Islamophobia while presenting itself as a partner of the West in the fight against extremism.
