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Italy Deploys 500 Troops to Milan Amid Cost-of-Living Protests
Confirmed
In Short: Italy has deployed 500 troops to Milan to quell cost-of-living protests that turned violent over the weekend, with protesters looting shops and clashing with police.
Italy's Ministry of Defence announced the deployment of 500 troops to Milan to reinforce security at key sites and enhance monitoring of sensitive locations, following days of protests and looting that escalated into violent clashes with police over the weekend.
The Italian cabinet approved new legal measures that take immediate effect, including a new offense for violent participation in demonstrations, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to €20,000 ($22,460).
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni emphasized the need for a firm state response, stating, 'Destroying and stealing is not protest, it is crime, and the state’s response must be firm.' She also expressed solidarity with law enforcement, condemning the violence and calling for peaceful demonstrations.
The unrest in Milan, where black-clad, masked youths threw fireworks and bottles at police and erected barricades in the central Piazza Duomo, left at least four police officers and 20 demonstrators injured. Police detained 271 young people after hooded youths set bins ablaze, ransacked shops, and smashed windows.
The disturbances in northern Italy echo similar unrest in neighboring France, where hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in some of the country’s most violent turmoil in years. In southern Italy, truck drivers have staged roadblocks due to soaring diesel prices and rising costs of living, disrupting supply chains.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini called the clashes 'shameful' and said the cabinet meeting would announce a series of 'immediate measures' including the troop deployment. He emphasized that the government would not tolerate scenes of organized destruction during protests.
The new decree also extends powers that previously applied only to adults, allowing police to detain youths aged between 14 and 17 if there is evidence they pose a danger. The decree must be converted to law by parliament within 60 days.
Some luxury brands in Milan have shut their shops due to the unrest, while protests have been ongoing for some time, with rising prices pushing families into poverty, a concern for Meloni ahead of the 2027 national elections.
What this adds
The Italian cabinet also approved tougher penalties for rioters and financial liability for parents whose children engage in vandalism or looting during protests.
Background
The Italian cabinet also approved tougher penalties for rioters and financial liability for parents whose children engage in vandalism or looting during protests.
What's confirmed
- As part of the new legal measures, which take effect immediately, anyone who takes part in a group of at least five people and endangers public safety during protests faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of €20,000 ($22,460).
- Protesters in both the north and the south say rising prices are pushing families into poverty, a concern for Meloni ahead of the 2027 national elections.
- The Italian cabinet on Tuesday approved sending 500 troops to Milan, a new legal offence covering violent participation in a demonstration, tougher penalties for rioters and financial liability for parents whose children take part in vandalism and looting.
- Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini called the clashes "shameful" and said on RTL 102.5 radio that the cabinet meeting would announce a series of "immediate measures" including the troop deployment.
- In Milan, police detained 271 young people after hooded youths set bins ablaze, ransacked shops, and smashed windows, including in the area surrounding the city’s cathedral, during the unrest on Saturday and Sunday.
What's still developing
- Meloni wrote on X: "Once again, the women and men of the Law Enforcement Forces have had to face the violence of criminals who, even through organized groups, exploit demonstrations to seek confrontation and sow chaos," she posted.
- Unequivocally condemn these acts of violence and issue a clear appeal for every mobilization to be peaceful." Il Sole 24 news site quoted Francesco Filini, MP for Meloni's Fratelli d’Italia and national program coordinator, as saying: "It is no longer tolerable that every time left-wing extremists take to the streets, scenes of organized destruction unfold.
- Milan police said 2,000 youths participated in the riots Saturday night, including a large presence of naturalized Italians born to foreign parents as well as foreign nationals.
- "To demonstrate is a right. To lay our cities to waste is not," she wrote on X.
- A further 28 people were reported to judicial authorities.
- The surge expands Italy’s 2008 Safe Streets operation as parliament faces a 60-day deadline to make the decree law.
- “The events in Milan and elsewhere in Italy are fundamentally different from those seen in other eras,” Guido Crosetto said.
- “They are the product of what I call 'hybrid warfare'—a form of conflict being waged against our nations through unconventional tools like TikTok, social media, and YouTube.” Mr Crosetto did not mention who he believed was behind the “hybrid” attacks but the phrase is frequently used to describe Russian attempts to destabilise Europe through the spread of disinformation and cyberattacks.
- "That's why we're all here together, trying to explain that we're suffocating," said the 46-year-old social worker.