On Thursday, President Donald Trump’s administration designated four European left-wing groups as terrorist organizations, fulfilling his promise to crack down on leftist movements following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The groups targeted are based in Europe and do not have operations within the United States. They include an Italian anarchist front responsible for sending explosive packages to the then-president of the European Commission in 2003, two Greek networks implicated in bombings targeting riot police and labor department buildings in Athens, and an anti-fascist group known for a hammer attack against neo-Nazis in Germany.
The decision comes amid a backdrop of increasing political violence in both Europe and the United States, with studies indicating that European left-wing groups have historically been associated with such violence. Conversely, in recent decades, the more prevalent source of political violence in the U.S. has been the far-right. Nonetheless, the assassination of Kirk in September has marked a notable rise in politically motivated attacks across the ideological spectrum in the U.S., with the shooter alleged to have been motivated by hostility toward Kirk’s views, particularly on transgender issues.
The announcement from the Trump administration maintains that “anarchist militants have waged terror campaigns in the United States and Europe, conspiring to undermine the foundations of Western Civilization through their brutal attacks.” The designation allows the U.S. government to cut off any financial support these groups may receive in the country. It is important to note that many anarchist and antifa groups function as loosely affiliated networks rather than formal organizations. Moreover, some factions advocate violence only against property rather than individuals.
One of the most notable groups included in the designation is the International Revolutionary Front, also referred to as the Informal Anarchist Federation. This group first gained notoriety in 2003-2004 when it sent explosive packages to Romano Prodi, the then-president of the European Commission. In 2012, members of this group executed a targeted attack on the chief executive of Italian nuclear power plant builder Ansaldo Nucleare, an act that reflected a historical anarchist tactic known as “gambizzazione,” or shooting individuals to incapacitate and intimidate them.
Another group, Armed Proletarian Justice, has been responsible for a variety of explosive attacks in Greece, including a failed bombing outside an Athens riot police building in December 2023 and a bomb that detonated at the labor department two months later. Revolutionary Class Self-Defense is another network that took credit for a separate bombing incident earlier this year at a train company’s headquarters.
The final group targeted is Antifa Ost, which operates in eastern Germany. In 2023, four members were convicted for participating in hammer attacks against neo-Nazis. Prosecutors have recently filed new charges against members of this group for assaults on individuals they claimed to be neo-Nazis in Budapest. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Trump ally, designated Antifa Ost as a terrorist organization after Kirk's assassination, aligning with Trump’s stance against left-wing extremism.
This latest designation, while unprecedented in its scope, is not entirely without precedent in U.S. foreign policy. Greece, for instance, has seen a long history of left-wing violence that dates back to the 1970s, with various far-left and anarchist groups having previously been labeled as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.
In prior actions, Trump also signed an executive order just weeks after Kirk’s assassination to designate antifa as a domestic terror organization, though the implications of such a move remain unclear as domestic groups cannot be listed on the State Department's foreign terror organizations list. Additionally, Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, the fundraising platform associated with the Democratic Party.
