Trump adds anti-fascist movements in terrorist organizations list
The United States announced the designation anti-fascist movements operating in Germany, Italy and Greece as terrorist organizations as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign against Antifa.
The US terror list also includes groups such as Hamas, al Qaeda, and the Lebanese Hezbollah.
In the United States, such a designation would prevent members of these groups from obtaining visas to enter the United States, freeze any potential financial assets they have in US banks, and make it illegal to establish business relationships with them.
The US State Department said in Washington on Thursday that three more groups from Europe would be added to this list in the future, and that between 2018 and 2023, the German association Antifa Ost carried out numerous attacks against people it considers ‘fascists’ or part of the ‘right-wing’ in Germany, and that the group was accused of carrying out a series of attacks in Budapest in mid-February 2023.
The other three groups operate in particular in Italy and Greece, as in September, the US president signed an executive order designating Antifa (a generic term for far-left groups that fly the banner of anti-fascism) as a domestic terrorist organization, following a memorial service for conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on 10 that month.
Hungary designated Antifa as a terrorist organization last September, following Trump’s move.
A statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the designation includes Germany-based Antifa Ost, and three other movements in Italy and Greece that will be designated as foreign terrorist organizations as of November 20.
The classification includes the FAI/FRI, which takes an anarchist approach to the hierarchy of systems, and two similar organizations in Greece.
Antifa is more of a movement than an organized group, which is a term usually used to refer to a far-left wing that is often held responsible for violence at demonstrations.
These groups, according to Washington, “follow anarchist or revolutionary Marxist ideologies, including anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity, which they use to incite and justify violent attacks in the United States and abroad”.
This movement emerged in the United States, starting in 2016, after Trump was elected president for the first time.
Recently, the city of Portland, which has been witnessing demonstrations against Trump’s immigration policies, has become a symbol of the Trump administration’s anti-antifa campaign.
Nonprofit think tanks and human rights organizations in the United States estimate that Antifa doesn’t have a stable organizational structure and lacks a clear hierarchical structure, a conclusion similar to that reached by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (domestic intelligence).
Critics warn that the name “Antifa” could theoretically be used against political opponents who criticize Trump within the protected legal framework.
In July, Germany’s federal prosecutor filed a lawsuit in Düsseldorf against six suspected members of the group. Germany’s highest prosecutor accuses the men of participating in attacks against actual and perceived right-wing extremists in Budapest in February 2023, and the defendants face charges including membership in a criminal group, serious physical assault and attempted murder.
Seven other members were also sued before the Supreme Court in Dresden, some of whom were also charged with attempted murder.
