The United States Department of State has decided to designate four European groups associated with the Antifa movement as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” (FTOs) and “Specially Designated Global Terrorists” (SDGTs)—a move that marks the first time these specific designations have been applied to cells internationally linked to the so-called “anti-fascist movement.”

According to Fox News, the inclusion of the four organizations on the FTO and SDGT lists places them in the same category as groups like ISIS (Islamic State), Al-Qaeda, and Hezbollah. The decision extends former U.S. President Donald Trump’s prior directive on domestic terrorism, giving this policy an international dimension.

Two of the four organizations targeted by the U.S. are based in Greece: Armed Proletarian Justice and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense. According to Fox News, which is considered sympathetic to the Trump administration, these groups have carried out attacks on government buildings in various parts of the country. The most recent attack involved a bombing at the headquarters of Hellenic Train last April. Revolutionary Class Self-Defense reportedly dedicated the attack “to the Palestinian people and their heroic resistance.”

One of the other organizations is Antifa Ost, a leftist cell linked to attacks in Germany between 2018 and 2023. German prosecutors have already charged seven individuals allegedly connected to its activities. In September 2025, the Hungarian government designated the group as a terrorist organization after allegations that nine members attacked people in Budapest in 2023 using hammers, clubs, and pepper spray.

Another central group is the International Revolutionary Front, also known as the Informal Anarchist Federation, a coalition based in Italy that supports armed revolutionary struggle against the state. The group has been linked to dozens of violent actions over the past two decades, including letter bombs sent to government and industrial targets, small explosive devices, and shooting incidents, including the injury of a nuclear engineering employee in 2012.

The four cells in Germany, Italy, and Greece are accused of organizing or carrying out bombings, shootings, and other politically motivated actions. By designating them as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” and “Specially Designated Global Terrorists,” U.S. financial institutions are required to freeze the organizations’ assets, and their members are barred from entering the United States.

Additionally, the U.S. government gains the authority to prosecute individuals under U.S. jurisdiction who provide material support to these groups or conspire to do so.

In a statement, Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Piggott said that “anarchists, Marxists, and violent Antifa extremists have been conducting a terrorist campaign in the United States and the Western world for decades, carrying out bombings, beatings, shootings, and riots in service of their extreme agenda.”

He added that “the State Department is committed to identifying and dismantling these terrorist networks, which conspire to ruthlessly suppress the will of the people and violently undermine the foundations of the United States and Western civilization.”

Republican Senator from Missouri, Eric Schmitt, who had requested the designation of these groups as “terrorist” in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, welcomed the decision, expressing gratitude to Secretary Rubio and the Trump administration for working with him on this critical issue—to hold accountable these radical groups that allow, fund, and support political violence in the United States and around the world.