The Trump administration wants countries to collaborate against left-wing extremism, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
Speaking to representatives from 60 countries in Washington, Rubio said counterterrorism had a blind spot – extremist violence from the political left.
“Even today, the very idea that far-left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wing fever dream, or worse, as a dangerous fascist conspiracy,” Rubio said.
“But it does exist, and we’re actually underestimating it, and our nations bear the scars to prove it.”
As an example, he highlighted an attack on Berlin’s power supply by the left-wing extremist Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group) that left tens of thousands in the dark for days in what became the longest outage in the German capital’s post-war history.
Rubio urged countries to work together to “identify and map” far-left extremism and rebuild counterterrorism architecture to defeat it.
“It is time for the people of the civilized world to defend ourselves, to stand united against this encroaching darkness, and fight – fight for what is ours.”
Rubio said the next workshop would be co-hosted “with our partners” in Germany.
“The coalition we’re building together is already bearing fruit, and we are here today to build on that work.”
The US has intensified actions against left-wing extremist groups recently. In September, US President Donald Trump designated the radical left-wing Antifa movement as a domestic terrorist organization.
In November, the German extremist group Antifa-Ost and three anarchist groups from Europe were added to the terror list.
The US terror list also includes groups such as the Palestinian Islamist Hamas, al-Qaeda and the Iranian-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah.