Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a memorandum in Washington on Thursday aimed at increasing information-sharing and joint investigations involving antifascist groups. According to the report, it is the first publicly known bilateral agreement of this kind since the Trump administration began targeting political opponents associated with anarchism or antifascism.
The agreement focuses on alleged cross-border networks described by Rubio as “left-wing extremist terrorism.” He said the phenomenon had returned after being ignored for too long. Orbán said the cooperation would target “Antifa Ost” and other groups allegedly active in both the United States and Hungary.
The memorandum follows measures adopted by the Trump administration after the September 2025 shooting of right-wing media activist Charlie Kirk. Trump subsequently designated “Antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization. Later presidential memoranda broadened the definition of terrorism-related activity to include resistance against police and border forces, organized doxxing of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, support for mass migration and open borders, and what the administration calls “radical gender ideology.”
The report links those measures to criminal investigations into protests against ICE operations. In the Prairieland case in Texas, 16 defendants were sentenced by a federal court to a combined 556 years in prison, with the judgments explicitly relying on Trump’s anti-Antifa order. Another case concerns the so-called Minnesota 15, who were charged over opposition to the ICE operation “Metro Surge.” According to investigative files, 119 Homeland Security Investigations agents, including at least 11 undercover officers, took part in the investigation.
The new US-Hungarian memorandum goes beyond the two countries’ existing mutual legal assistance agreement, which dates back to 1994 and entered into force in 1997. Hungary could use information obtained through the new cooperation in outstanding proceedings linked to the “Budapest complex,” involving antifascists from Italy and Germany. The allegations concern attacks on far-right activists during the 2023 “Day of Honor” events. Italian Member of the European Parliament Ilaria Salis and Zaid A., who grew up in Germany, are among those mentioned in connection with the proceedings.
Washington may also seek information from Hungary related to the German “Antifa Ost” case. The US State Department previously designated “Antifa Ost,” although it is not an organization formally registered as such in Germany, along with three other European anarchist groups as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The designations have also had indirect effects in Europe. In August, the United States imposed financial sanctions on the Italian technology collective Autistici/Inventati, which had provided hosting, encrypted email and mailing lists to thousands of left-wing groups. The collective later shut down its websites and services. The report says that US-based companies and financial institutions complied with the sanctions, affecting services and accounts linked to organizations in Europe.
The US government also had a server seized in Amsterdam as part of the investigation into Autistici/Inventati. Dutch authorities created a digital copy of the data, but it remains unclear whether the material will be handed over to US prosecutors. The Dutch government has expressed concern that the sanctions are creating uncertainty for providers in the Netherlands.
The agreement with Hungary comes after a conference hosted by Rubio in Washington in July with representatives from 66 countries on “transnational left-wing extremism.” Germany took part through the head of the Public Security department at its Interior Ministry and is helping organize a follow-up conference in Germany, reportedly planned for the autumn. The ministry has not disclosed further details to the press or lawmakers.
The German Foreign Office said on Friday that Germany was not involved in ongoing negotiations for a similar agreement with the United States. It did not say whether Berlin had received such a request from Washington.
Sources: netzpolitik.org.