Italy sends 500 soldiers to Milan after two days of riots

Italy will deploy 500 soldiers with judicial police powers to Milan after two days of clashes and looting at cost-of-living protests, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.

More than 200 people have been arrested since Saturday, ANSA, Italy’s national news agency, reported, according to Euronews. The deployment is the government’s sharpest response so far to disorder that has also been reported in Bologna and Turin.

Tajani spoke on the sidelines of the Welfare Italia Forum in Rome. “Five hundred military personnel, who will also be granted judicial police powers, will be deployed,” he said, according to Euronews. He said the government would respond “with great firmness.” UPI and the Denver Gazette also reported the 500-soldier deployment.

The violence began on the sidelines of a sanctioned cost-of-living demonstration on Saturday, Euronews reported. Outlets differ on the date, with some captions saying Oct. 17. On Sunday, police used tear gas and water cannon, and a supermarket on a shopping street off Piazza del Duomo was ransacked, according to Euronews. No injury figures were reported in the coverage reviewed.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X on Saturday: “To demonstrate is a right. To lay our cities to waste is not.” She called those responsible “thugs who exploit demonstrations to spread chaos,” Euronews reported, and convened a security meeting for Monday. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala told ANSA that what happened in Milan “is what we are seeing in many cities around the world,” Euronews reported.

Further measures are being weighed. Euronews said they include extending preventive detention from 12 to 24 hours, including for minors, deferred arrests for group property damage, and bans on gatherings by people deemed a threat. A Senate security bill would punish damage by at least five people with up to five years in prison and fines of up to 15,000 euros, Euronews reported. The League, a governing party, is pushing for mandatory arrests.

Reports differ on how far the package has advanced. Euronews described the measures as under consideration, while an Associated Press headline carried by The Hill said Meloni’s government had approved tougher measures. The AP story could not be opened for this report, so the details of what was approved remain unconfirmed.

The unrest in Italy follows days of rioting in France, where arrests topped 2,300 and authorities imposed local curfews, as we reported earlier on Tuesday. Italy has also been in the news this month over border checks with Spain.

For Canadians, Milan is a major gateway for travel and business, and about 1.5 million Canadians reported Italian ancestry in the 2021 census. Travellers can check the Italy page on travel.gc.ca for current advisories; no Canadian government statement on the Milan unrest was found in the sources reviewed.

Officials have not said how long the soldiers will stay in Milan. The status of the Senate security bill was not clear from the reports reviewed.

Via Euronews, UPI and the Denver Gazette.

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