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- The cause of the right: the fight against "Antifa" intensifies the split in the United States and Europe
The cause of the right: the fight against "Antifa" intensifies the split in the United States and Europe
Donald Trump's struggle with the leftist Antifa movement is gaining momentum. This time, the State Department reached Europe, recognizing four such organizations in Germany, Italy and Greece as terrorist. The intensification of anti-fascist groups was a reaction to Trump's rise to power in 2016, and today it has turned out to be one of the signs of a deep split within the United States, the experts interviewed said. About how the Antifa movement is organized and whether Europe will follow the path of the United States — in the Izvestia article.
Trump is fighting the international leftist movement
Washington, continuing its fight against the leftist movement, has recognized four European associations associated with Antifa as international terrorist organizations, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an official statement.
"The State Department declares the Antifa Ost organization based in Germany, as well as three other militant antifa groups in Italy and Greece, global terrorists," he said.
The word "antifa" is an abbreviation of the term "antifascism". They usually unite various groups that aim to fight fascism, as well as right-wing manifestations in the form of neo-Nazism, racism and anti-Semitism. The Antifa movement is extremely heterogeneous and decentralized, and therefore exists in various forms and practices a variety of methods of struggle, including violence, sabotage and pogroms.
In September, after the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump blamed leftist movements promoting violence and signed a decree recognizing Antifa as a terrorist organization within the United States. This time, structures in Europe have suffered the same fate — they are accused of attacks, as well as organizing bombings and murders.
In particular, Antifa Ost, a left—wing radical cell involved in terrorist attacks in Germany from 2018 to 2023, has already been recognized as a terrorist organization in Hungary. This happened after nine of its participants allegedly attacked people in Budapest with hammers, batons and pepper spray in 2023. By the way, earlier, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto also appealed to the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, to declare the Antifa movement a terrorist one.
In fact, the decree of the State Department obliges financial institutions of the United States to freeze the assets of foreign terrorist organizations, as well as prohibit their members from staying in the United States. In addition, it gives the right to initiate criminal prosecution of individuals in the States that provide material support to these groups. At the same time, one should not expect that Trump will take advantage of all the listed opportunities, because for him such a step is a desire to loudly declare his victory over the leftist movement, even if nothing is actually done, political analyst Dmitry Drobnitsky said in a conversation with Izvestia.
— In order to really persecute someone, you need to name a specific NGO, close their accounts, transfer it to the Ministry of Finance, the FBI and start acting. It is likely that nothing will be done about these European cells. Maybe someone will be banned from entering the United States," the expert believes.
According to him, no Antifa members have been arrested in the United States since September. This suggests that such decisions on recognition as terrorists remain on paper. As for Europe's reaction, in response, some of its politicians may enter into an open discussion with Trump on social networks, but otherwise they will not have any levers to influence his decision.
At the same time, such a step by the State Department in the future may lead to another surge of anti-Trump sentiment in Europe, Andrei Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club, told Izvestia. According to him, it is unlikely that European countries will follow his example, but right-wing populists will use this decision in their struggle against leftists and other political opponents.
How Antifa divides the United States
The election of Donald Trump as president of the country in 2016 gave a special impetus to the development and spread of this movement. Since that time, "Antifa" has been understood as supporters of leftist ideology who reject conservative methods of political struggle and are ready for violent actions.
This activation was largely a reaction from a part of the political and public elite, dissatisfied with the movement of Western societies towards conservatism and right-wing radicalism, Andrei Kortunov believes.
— Action creates counteraction. Wanting to stop the movement of MAGA and Trumpists, left—liberal foundations such as the Soros Foundation, Ford and others began to support Antifa," he says.
Antifascist organizations have more than 2 million supporters across the United States, and they are sponsored by interested parties opposed to Trump's policies, Dmitry Drobnitsky agrees. According to him, if necessary, they can be mobilized in a few days and called to take to the streets to organize a political protest. Something similar happened during the riots of the Black Live Matters movement, which can be linked to Antifa, as they also opposed police brutality and racism.
In general, the activation of Antifa has become a clear indicator of the increasingly increasing polarization of American society, which leads to an increase in domestic violence, says Andrei Kortunov. Against this background, the crime rate in the United States is rapidly increasing. The highest increase in the number of murders in modern US history was recorded, CNN reported in 2021. From 2019 to 2020, their number increased by 30%.
In particular, we can recall the events of 2019, when a rally of the ultra-right organization Proud Boys in Portland ended in clashes with left-wing radicals from the antifascist group Rose City Antifa (RCA). The authorities involved a thousand police officers in suppressing the riots, and 13 activists were detained. In Europe, the Antifa movement is much less organized and not as numerous.
At the same time, he has the potential to increase his numbers if more and more right-wing politicians come to power in European countries during the elections, Kortunov is sure.
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