MILAN: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned anti-Olympics protesters as “enemies of Italy” after violence on the fringes of a demonstration in Milan on Saturday night and sabotage attacks on the national rail network.
The incidents happened on the first full day of competition in the Winter Games that Milan, Italy’s financial capital, is hosting with the Alpine town of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Meloni praised the thousands of Italians who she said were working to make the Games run smoothly and present a positive face of Italy.
“Then there are those who are enemies of Italy and Italians, demonstrating ‘against the Olympics’ and ensuring that these images are broadcast on television screens around the world. After others cut the railway cables to prevent trains from departing,” she wrote on Instagram on Sunday.
A group of around 100 protesters threw firecrackers, smoke bombs and bottles at police after breaking away from the main body of a demonstration in Milan.
