Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party in France has vowed to classify Antifa as terrorists, following widespread riots across the country and similar efforts by the Trump administration to proscribe the far-left organization.
France on Fire.
Since September, France has experienced widespread protests, triggered ostensibly by student anger at worsening school conditions. The protests rapidly developed into broader demonstrations against the French government and opportunistic rioting by the far left and migration-background communities.
The riots resulted in clashes with the police, destruction of private and public property, and arson. The violence targeted symbols of the French Republic, including Limoges City Hall, an iconic building over a century old.
The National Rally’s Proposal.
Following the riots, Jordan Bardella, President of the National Rally, pledged to designate Antifa and associated far-left organizations as terrorist groups if his party wins the 2027 presidential elections. He announced the proposal on Sunday. Bardella, whom Le Pen intends to appoint as Prime Minister if she is elected President next year, characterized Antifa and similar groups as acting as the “armed wing” of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party.
Bardella proposed barring people on security watch lists from attending protests, comparing the proposal to restrictions on football hooligans.
“If I am head of government in a few months, I will ask the European Union to add Antifa militias and all far-left organizations to the list of terrorist organizations. I believe that to protect the right of honest people to demonstrate calmly and peacefully, which is a fundamental right in our society,” said Bardella during an interview with CNews. “I will ensure that those on the S-list are banned from participating in demonstrations, as is the case for football hooligans, and that they are required to report to the police station before, during, and after the demonstration,” he added.
The Trump administration has pursued similar measures, designating Antifa a domestic terrorist organization in September 2025 and subsequently designating four European Antifa groups as terrorist threats.
Shadow of The Far Left.
The proposal follows concerns from French intelligence service officials regarding far-left involvement in the riots. A report from the Paris Police intelligence service published in late September stated: “The origins of the movement clearly lie in the manipulation of student union structures and political movements close to the far left.” The report also warned that far-left organizations, such as La France Insoumise and the Young Communist League, were pursuing a “strategy of igniting unrest on the part of the most radical union and political structures to impose their ideas as national elections approach” being pursued among various far-left organizations, such as L. The report also stated that “high school students are being pushed into these actions by far-left elements.”
“[W]e have a far-left movement that wants to create chaos, to say the least, profound chaos in the country leading up to the presidential election,” said French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, publicly relaying the intelligence assessment following the October 17 escalation.
France’s Decision.
France is scheduled to hold the first round of its presidential elections in April next year. According to current polling, Le Pen is expected to win the first round and the second round, in which the top two first-round candidates face off, regardless of whichever candidate she faces in the latter. Polling suggests that if Le Pen faces off against Mélenchon, she could secure a landslide victory. Specifically, according to polling by Harris Interactive, Le Pen is on course to beat Mélenchon in the second round by 68 percent to 32 percent.
As Mélenchon is the most likely candidate to face Le Pen in the second round, it is possible that the 2027 presidential elections could amount to a referendum of the far left, and the chaos which it has helped to facilitate, as per the intelligence services.
