Overview
- The State Department named Antifa Ost and three other European groups as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and says it will list them as Foreign Terrorist Organizations on November 20.
- Sanctions include freezing accessible U.S. assets, barring U.S. persons from providing support, and denying visas or entry to listed members.
- U.S. officials cite attacks attributed to the so‑called Hammerbande from 2018 to 2023, including coordinated assaults on far‑right targets in Budapest in February 2023.
- Berlin says it was not briefed in advance and declines to assess the decision, noting security services judge the group’s threat to have recently decreased as ringleaders were convicted or jailed, while cases proceed in Düsseldorf, Dresden and Hungary.
- The listing tracks Hungary’s late‑September designation and follows President Trump’s September directive targeting Antifa, as experts note Antifa’s decentralized structure complicates enforcement.