Following Trump, Orban says Hungary will designate Antifa a terrorist group
By Christian Edwards, CNN
(CNN) — Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday that Hungary will follow the lead of US President Donald Trump and designate Antifa, the nebulous far-left anti-fascist group that is more an ideology than a formal group, as a terrorist organization.
Orbán, who has hollowed out Hungary’s civic institutions over his 15 years in power, said he was “pleased” with Trump’s decision to list Antifa as a “major terrorist organization” in the US, and that Hungary would do the same.
“Antifa is a terrorist organization,” Orbán told state radio. “The time has also come in Hungary for organizations like Antifa to be classified as terrorist organizations, following the American example.”
Orbán, a champion of what he calls “illiberal democracy,” is often credited with inspiring Trump’s playbook for government. Orbán has become a darling to MAGA conservatives, and the president has praised him as a “very great leader” and “very strong man.” While Trump administration critics accuse the president of deploying tactics used in Hungary, Orbán’s announcement shows that the relationship can go both ways.
In an early-morning tirade on Thursday during his state visit to Britain, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he is designating Antifa, which he called a “sick, dangerous, radical left disaster,” as a terror organization. In the days after the killing of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist, the president has sought to channel conservative anger into efforts to go after his rivals.
In the US, Antifa is a loosely organized movement without a distinct leader, membership lists or structure. It is unclear what effects Trump’s designation will have on Antifa since, as a domestic movement, it enjoys First Amendment protections, unlike the US State Department’s list of foreign terror organizations.
Antifa is similarly unstructured in Hungary. In his comments, Orbán cited a 2023 incident in which Ilaria Salis, an Italian antifascist activist, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting participants in an annual far-right “Day of Honor” event in Budapest, Hungary’s capital.
“They have come to Hungary, beaten peaceful people in the streets, beaten some half to death,” Orbán said Friday.
Salis was released in May 2024 before winning a seat in the European Parliament, which granted her legal immunity.
Without naming Salis, Orbán complained that Antifa activists can “go on to become MEPs, and from there they lecture Hungary on the rule of law.” European lawmakers have criticized Hungary for continuing to commemorate the “Day of Honor,” which marks the failed attempt by Nazi German and Hungarian troops to break the Soviet siege of Budapest in 1945. Last year, three MEPs said the event remains a “shameful display of Nazi banners, slogans and uniforms.”
Although Antifa is not an active group in Hungary, Orbán’s threats against it are unsurprising. Orbán has long sought to consolidate his power through concocting scapegoats for Hungary’s ills. Most notoriously, he has vilified the billionaire philanthropist George Soros, hounding his Open Society Foundations from the country.
Orbán’s conspiracies around Soros are gaining traction in the US. Trump suggested in August that Soros should be charged with a decades-old federal law, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), because of his alleged “support for Violent Protests, and much more.”
Following Kirk’s assassination last week, conservatives have called for Trump to bring RICO charges against left-wing groups they view as part of a concerted effort to incite violence in the US.
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CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Michael Williams, Fredreka Schouten and Sharon Braithwaite contributed to this report.
