Italian PM Meloni: Anti-Olympics demonstrators are 'enemies of Italy'

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has sharply criticized demonstrators who rioted in Milan as the Winter Olympics got under way in the city.

She called those involved in the riots "enemies of Italy and the Italians" in a social media post on Sunday.

She wrote that the protesters had made sure that the images of the riots were shown "on television halfway around the world," adding a contribution from the US channel Fox.

On Saturday evening, a protest march of more than 3,000 people set off towards the Olympic village in the northern Italian city.

Participants threw smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails in the direction of the security forces. The police used batons, water cannons and tear gas and arrested six people.

Meloni also mentioned an incident on the Italian railway network in the north of the country. Damage was discovered at three locations on Saturday, causing considerable problems for rail traffic.

Investigators are not ruling out the possibility that this could be an act of sabotage, as was the case at the start of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

"Thousands and thousands of Italians are working these hours to ensure that everything works during the Olympic Games," Meloni wrote in her Instagram post.

Many of them are travelling as volunteers "because they want their nation to make a good impression, to be admired and respected."

Against them were what she called "enemies," who were demonstrating "against the Olympic Games."