Date saved: 2026-10-25 18:01 (PDT)
Sources: DW, NBC 15, Consul Pazen, +972 Magazine
Key findings
Albania: Government blames antifa for student protests
- DW News (October 2026): Albania's student protests are only getting bigger; as police try to suppress anti-corruption protests by young Albanians, Prime Minister Edi Rama claimed that "antifa" -- or a decentralized movement of global antifascists -- had stoked anti-government and anti-corruption sentiments in Albania; Rama said these are young people who have been radicalized and ideologically indoctrinated and who are acting under the pressure or influence of a new, dark force that has emerged in Europe and the United States; protesters denounce corruption, mismanaged universities, and the rising cost of education and call for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, who has been in office since 2013; police pushed demonstrators and journalists out of the way, using water cannons to disperse the crowd. (Source)
- DW News / YouTube (October 2026): Albania's student protests are only getting bigger; security affairs researcher Redion Qirjazi told DW that Rama's claim was not likely to prove true, that no verifiable evidence has been presented to prove the existence of an organized Antifa structure in Albania, and that Antifa is not a unified international organization but an umbrella term for various movements and groups united by being anti-fascist at their core. (Source)
France: Antifa groups in protest ecosystem
- France 24 (October 24, 2026): Thousands of anti-fascist protesters marched in Orléans against the National Rally congress, with the prefecture counting 11,000 by noon against 20,000 to 30,000 expected; police seized weapons and arrested 135 people on the sidelines nationwide. (Source)
- The Brussels Times (October 2026): Belgian interior minister Bernard Quintin accused "a movement like Antifa" of being involved in the Liège school protest unrest, saying "adults are manipulating children to convey violent political messages". Mayor Willy Demeyer banned gatherings of more than three people; up until Tuesday 70 percent of those arrested were minors. (Source)
- NBC 15 / YouTube (October 24, 2026): French intelligence officials have reportedly identified Antifa and other far-left extremist organizations as key instigators of the riots in a new intelligence assessment reported by the French news outlet 20 Minutes; multiple cities across France have faced a wave of unrest that began as peaceful, student-led demonstrations over underfunded schools and later merged with labor unions and reported left-wing activists. (Source)
Cross-border spread and arrests
- DW (October 2026): French unions and protest groups called for fresh demonstrations on October 31 and a nationwide strike on November 5; the interior ministry blamed groups including radical far-left activists for confrontations along or near the routes, and Paris police counted 110,000 protesters in the capital on Saturday. (Source)
- France 24 (October 24, 2026): The interior ministry said 410,000 people protested nationwide on Saturday and organizers claimed nearly 800,000, with almost 1,000 arrested on the sidelines; thousands marched in Orléans against the National Rally congress chanting anti-fascist slogans. (Source)
The word "antifa" this week became a political instrument wielded by governments that want to delegitimize mass protests by attaching a label with authoritarian baggage. Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama told reporters that "antifa" -- which he described as a decentralized movement of global antifascists that President Trump has designated as a terrorist organization -- was behind the student anti-corruption protests that have escalated into daily clashes between college and high school students and police. Rama offered no verifiable evidence of an organized Antifa structure coordinating the protests in Albania. DW spoke to security affairs researcher Redion Qirjazi, who said the claim was not likely to prove true and that "to date, no verifiable evidence has been presented to prove the existence of an organized Antifa structure in Albania, let alone its involvement in coordinating the protests." Qirjazi noted that "Antifa is not a unified international organization with a centralized structure or leadership, but rather an umbrella term for various movements and groups united by the fact that they are, at their core, anti-fascist." The Albanian president's rhetoric echoed Trump's designation of antifa as a terrorist organization -- a designation that has no legal basis in U.S. law and that human rights groups have condemned as an attack on political speech.
In France, the dynamic is inverted: the interior ministry blames groups it calls radical far-left activists for confrontations along the protest routes, while police counted 110,000 protesters in Paris on Saturday and the ministry counted 410,000 nationwide. Belgian interior minister Bernard Quintin names an Antifa-style movement in Liège. The claim travels fast because it is useful to governments facing mass protests that began over school conditions and the cost of living.
Source links
- DW News: Albania's student protests are only getting bigger
- NBC 15: French intel assessment reportedly links Antifa, left wing groups to France riots
- The Brussels Times: Belgian Interior Minister blames Antifa for Liège school riots
- DW News: France -- Hundreds arrested after nationwide protests
- France 24: Live, 410,000 protesters across France as organizers claim nearly 800,000