The United States has designated four European Antifa-affiliated groups as terrorist organisations, the State Department announced on Thursday, marking a significant expansion of Washington’s crackdown on political violence.
The move follows the Trump administration’s earlier decision to classify the U.S. branch of Antifa as a domestic terrorist organisation after the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September.
The groups set to receive the Specially Designated Global Terrorist label include Germany’s Antifa Ost, Italy’s Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front, and two Greece-based factions, Armed Proletarian Justice and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense. All four will also be formally listed as Foreign Terrorist Organizations next week, triggering asset freezes, financial sanctions, travel bans, and criminal penalties for anyone providing support.
According to the State Department, Antifa Ost has been linked to a series of assaults in Germany between 2018 and 2023, as well as attacks in Budapest last year — leading Hungary to classify it as a terrorist group. The other three organisations have claimed responsibility for bomb attacks, threats, and violence targeting political, economic, and government institutions in Italy and Greece.
President Trump has described Antifa as a militant anarchist network seeking to destabilise governments, directing federal agencies to use all legal tools to disrupt and dismantle any associated illegal activity.
The broader Antifa movement, a loose coalition of anti-fascist activists often seen at counter-protests, became highly visible during the 2020 unrest and has frequently been linked to violent clashes with police, journalists, and right-wing groups.
