Italy is sending 500 troops from the Folgore paratrooper brigade to Milan after demonstrations against high living costs turned into violence and looting, Yonhap News reports. The soldiers are expected to arrive within days and will remain in the city until the end of the year. The deployment comes as strikes and protests spread across the country.
According to Yonhap, the head of Milan's local administration will agree with the city's police chief on what duties the paratroopers will carry out. Authorities are also reportedly considering deploying soldiers trained to operate drones alongside the airborne unit.
Why it matters
The decision to put military personnel on the streets of Italy's financial capital signals how far the unrest has moved beyond ordinary protest. Milan has seen demonstrations over the cost of living degenerate into violence and looting, and the government's response — sending in an elite army brigade rather than relying on police alone — is an unusual step for a major European city in peacetime.
The unrest is not confined to Milan. Yonhap describes a country struggling with a combination of anti-government demonstrations against high prices and rolling worker strikes in several regions. The effects are now showing up in everyday supply chains, from supermarket shelves to fuel stations.
Empty shelves and halted production
Signs of strain are visible in the south. According to Yonhap, some supermarket shelves in the Naples area have begun to empty as residents stock up on goods. In Sicily, stocks of pasta, meat and agricultural produce are reported to have run out.
The disruption has reached producers as well. Some companies making mozzarella from buffalo milk, a specialty of southern Italy, have stopped production because they are not receiving raw milk on schedule. Yonhap, citing the Associated Press, also reports fuel shortages at some filling stations.
La Scala strike cancels performances
Milan's La Scala opera house, one of the world's five leading opera venues, has its own dispute. Yonhap reports that staff there have been on strike since the 12th, demanding higher pay and better working conditions. The walkout has caused confusion at the theater, with scheduled performances including the opera "Faust" called off.
The La Scala action illustrates how the labor unrest cuts across sectors — from logistics and agriculture to one of Italy's most prominent cultural institutions.
Protests beyond Italy
The region is seeing similar pressures elsewhere. Yonhap reports that about 5,000 students demonstrated in Athens against high living costs, while doctors at state hospitals and some civil servants in Greece also walked off the job or halted work in their departments.
The wave of discontent across southern Europe reflects a shared grievance: wages and incomes failing to keep pace with prices. In Italy, that grievance has combined with labor disputes to produce a broad disruption that the government is now answering with both policing and military manpower.
What to watch: how Milan's local authorities define the paratroopers' role, whether the drone specialists are deployed, and whether the strikes at La Scala and in the supply chain are resolved before the year-end deadline for the military deployment.
