Italy's government on Tuesday approved new security measures, including the deployment of soldiers and tougher legal sanctions, aimed at quelling protests over the cost of living in the country's north that at times turned violent over the weekend.
Under the decision approved by Italy's cabinet, 500 soldiers will be sent to Milan. The government also created a new legal offense for taking part in violence during protests, imposed harsher sentences on rioters and set out financial liability for parents whose children take part in vandalism or looting.
Italy's Defense Ministry said the military will help reinforce security at key sites, step up surveillance of sensitive areas and improve monitoring capacity.
Riots spread across northern Italian cities over the weekend, including Milan, the country's financial hub. There, groups made up largely of young people looted stores, smashed windows and clashed with police. The protests stemmed from anger over soaring fuel and energy prices, high rents, low wages and the state of public services.
Public security
Under the new legal measures, which take effect immediately, anyone who joins a group of five or more people and endangers public safety during a protest faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 20,000 euros (about $22,460).
Sentences increase if the offender conceals their face or injures others.
Authorities can demand immediate compensation for any damage caused and, in the case of minors, hold parents liable.
Police will be allowed to detain teenagers aged 14 to 17 even if they have not committed a crime, provided there is evidence they pose a danger — extending powers previously applied only to adults.
However, according to Italian media, the cabinet did not approve granting law enforcement powers to soldiers as planned, following objections from President Sergio Mattarella.
"Vandalism and theft are not protest, they are crime, and the state's response must be firm," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on social media after the cabinet meeting.
Spreading protests
The riots in northern Italy came alongside similar unrest in neighboring France, where hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday in one of the most intense bouts of turmoil in years.
Meloni's government is also under growing pressure from a separate wave of protests in southern Italy, where truck drivers angry over soaring diesel prices and rising living costs have set up roadblocks, disrupting supply chains.
Protesters in both the north and south say rising prices are pushing families into poverty — a concern for Prime Minister Meloni ahead of the 2027 national election.
