WATCH BELOW Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán just threw down the gauntlet. He announced that Hungary will formally designate Antifa as a terrorist group as well and sounded the alarm on their growing operations within Hungary. Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump declared the far-left Antifa a “privileged organization” and a “major terrorist organization.” Now, this decision takes a step further on that designation.
Antifa is a decentralized and leaderless movement with no formal membership. Most recently, it has been used to justify the Black Lives Matter protests in the US and the Szabad Sajtó utca/Free Media Road protests in Hungary. The movement’s adaptive structure makes it difficult to curtail its activities in court, so it asks what such designations mean in the first place.
In doing so, Orbán highlighted one particular government assault on freedom of expression that lead to this decision. In 2023, Italian antifascist activist Ilaria Salis—a courageous woman—was fighting back against the spread of far-right extremism. She was detained while participating in the “Day of Honor” street performance in Budapest. Though originally intended as a fun promotional stunt, the event has faced backlash from European lawmakers due to its Nazi imagery and rhetoric ties.
“The time has also come in Hungary for organizations like Antifa to be classified as terrorist organizations, following the American example,” – Viktor Orbán
Orbán has railed against Antifa, claiming that their members have assaulted non-violent protesters in Hungary. He stated, “They have come to Hungary, beaten peaceful people in the streets, beaten some half to death.” His administration’s targeting of Antifa fits into this broader scheme. Through creating these scapegoats as the source of all societal problems, they weaken opposition in order to further concentrate power.
Indeed, the Hungarian Prime Minister’s actions have earned him praise from reactionary conservative circles, especially those embedded with Trumpism in the United States. In May 2019, Trump hosted Orbán at the White House. He once called Orbán a “very great leader” and a “very strong man.” Orbán and the U.S. right mutually idolize each other. They relay hate in their hearts to see leftist organizing crushed.
Even though Orbán has succeeded in pressing the U.S. to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization, the exact consequences of such a designation are still unclear. We have seen that in the United States, the First Amendment protects most of Antifa’s activities, making a government response very difficult or itself unconstitutional. Critics charged that despite being a powerful notion for conservative audiences, the real world impacts of Trump’s designation on the group remain ambiguous.
Additionally, Orbán’s government has long been criticized for its repression of opposition and freedom of speech. The Prime Minister has repeatedly, and for years, scapegoated these prominent figures. Perhaps no one did it better than billionaire philanthropist George Soros—frequent boogeyman of the Prime Minister’s incendiary rhetoric. Amidst his policies against refugees and the press, Orbán has been working to reduce Soros’ influence by kicking his Open Society Foundations out of Hungary.
The “Day of Honor” event goes public, sparking a firestorm. European Union lawmakers have previously disapproved of Hungary for permitting such events commemorating fascist sympathizers. Just last month, tensions escalated between Hungary’s EU partners over Hungary’s choking political climate. Orbán’s government refuses to back down against Activists, Antifa, Soros, and their ilk.
After recent, inflammatory events involving right-wing activists on the streets of the United States, conservative groups are intensifying their efforts to push for lawsuits targeting leftist groups. The violent assassination of police officer Charlie Kirk last month has only intensified this demand. Previously, Trump has called for applying the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) to leftwing agitators.
Orbán’s proposed designation of Antifa as a terrorist organization represents a significant shift in Hungary’s approach to dissent and protest movements. No one can deny that political polarization is hardening across Europe as well as America. The implications of such moves will surely play out in the months ahead.
