Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for an urgent security meeting following a weekend of violent demonstrations in Milan, sparked by rising living costs.
The weekend saw crowds exceeding 5,000 participants. Law enforcement responded with water cannons and tear gas after masked protesters pelted officers with bins, chairs, and paving stones.
“While the right to protest is fundamental, the destruction of our cities is not,” Meloni stated on Saturday, accusing “hooligans” of hijacking the demonstrations to “sow chaos.”
The unrest in Italy mirrors recent outbreaks of violence occurring alongside primarily peaceful youth-led demonstrations in France, Spain, and Albania.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala expressed concern that this represents a “new phenomenon” driven by an “international scenario” that appears to be self-perpetuating.
In an interview with the Ansa news agency, Sala described scenes of smashed storefronts, looting, and terrified residents, noting that the chaos in Milan reflects a broader global trend in urban unrest.
The clashes, which began Saturday and persisted through Sunday, resulted in more than 200 detentions. According to Ansa, 80% of those taken into custody were minors.
The AGI news agency reported that Milan’s prosecutor’s office is seeking prison sentences for five adults charged with vandalism, looting, and resisting arrest.
Italian media outlets confirmed that several individuals, including police officers, sustained injuries during the riots.
The disturbances spread beyond Milan to other northern Italian cities.
Meloni noted that authorities in Turin detained individuals found with hammers and cobblestones, while a station in Bologna was closed as a safety precaution following similar disruptions.
With an election approaching next year, the Prime Minister urged political rivals to join her in denouncing the violence.
“Do not be ambiguous,” she posted on X, emphasizing that condemnation must be “unanimous” to prevent hesitation from being perceived as justification for the violence.
Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein maintained that her party has always rejected violence, warning against using the riots as a pretext to silence peaceful protesters struggling with economic hardship, according to Ansa.
The violence followed student-led, anti-government protests held in various Italian cities on Friday and echoes widespread unrest in neighboring France, where hundreds of thousands participated in demonstrations.
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