*Paris Mulls Similar Response
Italy’s government is sending 500 soldiers to Milan and vowed a “firm response from the state” after protests against the cost of living descended into clashes with police, vandalism and looting.
Further demonstrations are planned on Saturday.
The government of the far-right Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, is also planning to swiftly approve tougher new security measures, including extending preventive detention for minors, cracking down on youth gangs and banning gatherings for people deemed a threat to public order, Italian media reported on Tuesday (today).
In France, the Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, said today that some military forces would be deployed during protests planned for this Saturday, “mostly to free police and gendarmes in their mission to maintain order.”
The French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, told parliament that the police presence during Saturday’s demonstrations would be “massive” and that his goal was for an “immediate return to order” after last weekend’s violent riots.
Many luxury stores in Milan’s fashion district have stayed closed amid fears of further unrest.
Brands including Chanel, Tiffany and Dior removed merchandise from their windows as a precaution.
Other stores ransacked included the sports retailers Decathlon and Arc’teryx and the mobile phone operator Vodafone, footage showed.
Police in Milan 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.
Police used teargas and water cannon to disperse the violent groups, who were on the fringes of an initially peaceful protest.
Of those detained, 32 have been arrested, including 23 minors and 13 foreign nationals, police said on Monday. A further 28 people were reported to judicial authorities.
Images of Saturday’s clashes in France, including mobs looting shops and public buildings set on fire, prompted several countries including the US, China and Germany to issue travel advice for their citizens.
Nearly 2,400 people were arrested in one of France’s most violent recent bouts of unrest.
French authorities on Monday announced partial curfews in several cities, including Paris, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice, and after a night of relative calm, Lecornu said today that new curfews would be imposed where they were needed.
Authorities in Paris renewed Monday night’s curfew, which would apply from 11pm on Tuesday until 6am on Wednesday to the Place de la République, where many of the weekend clashes took place, and in the central Les Halles shopping district.
Paris police ordered a temporary ban on people carrying cans or bottles of petrol or gas, and banned masks and helmets in some areas.
A man was also arrested in connection with the burning down of the historic town hall in Limoges.
The Italian press agency Ansa reported that one of the security measures being considered in the country was aimed at second-generation immigrant youths, known as maranza – a slang term used to describe gangs of young people, usually from marginalised areas.
*PHOTO CAPTION: The sports retailer Decathlon was among the stores ransacked in Milan during the protests. Photo: Alessandro Bremec.
