The Dutch parliament has adopted a motion calling on the government to designate Antifa as a terrorist organisation, following a similar announcement by US President Donald Trump, though implementation remains uncertain and the government is not obligated to act on the parliamentary request.
The motion, passed on Thursday, was submitted by far-right leader Geert Wilders of the Party for Freedom (PVV), along with Caroline van der Plas of the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) and Lidewij de Vos of Forum for Democracy (FvD). It received support from the centre-right VVD, the Christian conservative SGP, and the right-wing JA21 parties.
In the motion, Wilders argued that “Antifa cells are also active in our country, threatening politicians, disrupting meetings, intimidating students and journalists, and not shying away from using violence.” The vote forces the Dutch government to formally respond and decide whether to implement the designation.
However, crucially, the Netherlands has not “officially designated” Antifa as a terrorist group, contrary to some claims circulating online. Parliamentary motions in the Dutch system are essentially discussion points that express the chamber’s position on a topic, but the cabinet is not legally obligated to implement them.
“The Chamber can enter a point of discussion, a motion. This means making a statement about a certain topic. The cabinet is not obligated to execute a motion,” states the official Dutch government website explaining parliamentary procedures.
The timing of the motion follows President Trump’s announcement on Wednesday that he would designate Antifa as a “major terrorist organization” in the United States. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating Antifa, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.
Constitutional law expert Bruce Fein told Al Jazeera that Trump has “neither constitutional nor statutory authority” to make such a designation domestically, as US law lacks specific provisions for designating domestic groups as terrorist organisations. The designation process typically applies only to foreign groups.
The Dutch motion’s passage comes amid significant political upheaval in the Netherlands. Wilders’ PVV collapsed the government coalition in June 2025 over immigration disputes, triggering new elections scheduled for 29 October. Recent polls show the PVV leading with a projected 33 seats in the 150-seat parliament, though support has declined from its November 2023 peak.
According to the Netherlands’ National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV), “organized left-wing extremism in the Netherlands is fragmented, small in number, and diverse in ideology.” This assessment suggests limited organised Antifa activity compared to Wilders’ claims.
If the Dutch government were to implement the designation, it could significantly expand law enforcement powers related to surveillance, monitoring, and prosecution of suspected Antifa activity. However, legal experts have raised questions about how such a designation would work practically, given Antifa’s decentralised nature as an ideological movement rather than a formal organisation.
Antifa is a kind of politics, not a specific group,” explained US historian Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook. The movement consists of loosely organised, decentralised left-wing activists who oppose fascist and far-right ideologies, making formal designation complex from both legal and practical standpoints.
The motion represents the latest move by European far-right parties to target left-wing activism. Wilders, who has been under police protection since 2004 due to death threats over his anti-Islam views, has long positioned himself as a defender against what he describes as radical leftist threats.
Two of the three parliament members who submitted the motion belong to parties that were part of the recently collapsed government coalition, whilst the third represents an opposition party. Given the current political instability and the caretaker status of the government ahead of elections, immediate action on the motion appears unlikely.
The development highlights growing tensions over political extremism definitions across Europe. Whilst some view the motion as necessary to combat political violence, critics argue it represents an attempt to criminalise legitimate political opposition and protest movements.
For now, the Dutch government must formally respond to parliament’s request, though any decision will likely await the formation of a new government following October’s elections. The motion’s symbolic importance may exceed its practical impact, serving more as a political statement than an imminent policy change.
The claim that “all of Europe” will follow this designation remains unfounded speculation, with no other European nations currently indicating plans to classify Antifa as a terrorist organisation.
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Image Credit:
Geert Wilders at Prinsjesdag 2014 (cropped) — photo by Phil Nijhuis / Rijksoverheid, CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication.
