Italy approves sweeping security measures in response to protests

By AFP and Reuters. Published On 21 Oct 202621 Oct 2026.

Key points

• Protesters in both the north and the south say rising rates are pushing families into poverty, a concern for Meloni ahead of the 2027 national elections.
• As projected, after opposition from President Sergio Mattarella, Italian media noted, but the cabinet did not approve giving soldiers policing powers.
• Italy's Ministry of Defence remarked the military will assist reinforce security at key sites, step up surveillance of sensitive locations and enhance monitoring.
• Unrest swept northern Italian cities at the weekend, including the financial capital Milan, where groups of mainly young individuals looted shops, smashed windows and clashed with the police.
• Authorities can order prompt compensation for any damage inflicted and, in the case of minors, hold their parents liable.

Italy has approved the deployment of troops and tougher legal penalties in a bid to quell cost-of-living protests in the north of the country that occasionally turned violent over the weekend.

Notably, 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.

Unrest swept northern Italian cities at the weekend, including the financial capital Milan, where groups of mainly young individuals looted shops, smashed windows and clashed with the police. The demonstrations were driven by anger over soaring fuel and energy rates, high rents, low wages and the state of public services.

As part of the new legal measures. It take effect immediately, anyone who takes part in a group of at least five individuals and endangers public safety during protests faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of €20, 000 ($22, 460). Penalties growth if faces are concealed or residents are injured.

Police will be allowed to detain youths aged between 14 and 17, even if they have not committed a crime, provided there is evidence they pose a danger, extending powers that previously applied only to adults.

"Destroying and stealing is not protest, it is crime, and the state's response must be firm, " Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni remarked in a social media post after the cabinet gathering.

For context, the disturbances in northern Italy echoed riots in neighbouring France, where hundreds of thousands of individuals took to the streets on Saturday in some of the country's most violent turmoil in years.

Meloni's administration is additionally facing mounting pressure from a separate wave of protests in southern Italy, where truck drivers angered by soaring diesel rates and the rising cost of living have staged roadblocks that are disrupting supply chains.

In short, italy approves sweeping security measures in response to protests is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.