The United States State Department has designated four European self-described anti-fascist groups as Foreign Terrorist Organisations, broadening the Trump administration's campaign against what it portrays as leftist violence. The groups named are Antifa Ost in Germany, the International Revolutionary Front in Italy, and two Greek organisations: Armed Proletarian Justice and Revolutionary Class Self Defense.
In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said these groups 'conspire to undermine the foundations of Western Civilization through their brutal attacks'. He described them as subscribing to revolutionary anarchist or Marxist ideologies, including anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism and anti-Christianity. The designation, the first time 'antifa' groups have been deemed a foreign terrorist threat, allows US law enforcement to use enhanced surveillance and financial tools, potentially against American citizens suspected of supporting them.
The administration cited incidents involving homemade explosives, shootings and hammer attacks. Making financial transactions with the listed groups or their members is now a criminal offence in the US. The move follows a presidential executive action in September that declared 'antifa' a domestic terrorist organisation, linked by the administration to violent confrontations after the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
National security experts have criticised the designation, noting antifa lacks a clear membership or leadership structure. Mary Bossis, emeritus professor at Piraeus University in Athens, described it as 'plain wrong' to conflate anti-fascist activists with violent extremists. She said antifa in Greece had never advocated violence, contrasting them with past leftist militants who targeted US personnel. Bossis argued the move reflects a Trumpian strategy to divide the world between 'good right' and 'bad left', blackening progressive views.
