Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni strongly criticized the demonstrators who were involved in riots in the city of Milan, coinciding with the start of the Winter Olympics, and described them as “enemies of Italy and the Italians.”
Meloni explained in a post on social media on Sunday that the demonstrators deliberately showed images of the chaos “to be shown on television around the world,” with reference to the coverage carried out by the American channel “Fox News” of those events.
A protest march of more than three thousand people began on Saturday evening towards the Olympic Village in Milan, where protesters threw smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails at security forces.
The police responded using batons, water cannons and tear gas, and the confrontations led to the arrest of six people.
The Prime Minister also addressed another incident that occurred on the railway network in the north of the country, where damage was discovered in three different locations on Saturday, causing major disruption to train movement. Investigators did not rule out the hypothesis of intentional sabotage, in an incident that was reminiscent of similar events that coincided with the start of the Summer Olympics in Paris.
In another post on the “Instagram” platform, Meloni praised the national efforts made to make the Winter Olympics a success, and stressed that “thousands of Italians are working these hours to ensure that everything goes well,” noting that many of them participate as volunteers “motivated by their desire for their country to leave a positive impression and gain admiration and respect.”
Meloni concluded her comments by comparing these volunteers to the demonstrators, whom she described as “enemies” because of their opposition to hosting the Olympic Games.
