Major anti-government protests sweep across Italy

Alessandra Tarantino/AP

Farmers dumped manure on the streets of Turin on Friday as mass demonstrations unfurled across more than 50 cities in Italy.

Thousands of students and workers took to the streets to protest soaring living costs and the poor state of public services such as healthcare and education.

Nationwide strikes and marches have been staged by teachers and workers from agricultural and healthcare sectors, among others, in action spearheaded by the anti-capitalist trade union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB).

Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images

Transport workers had been slated to join the pickets too, but abandoned plans after Transport Minister Matteo Salvini threatened the sector with sanctions. The USB urged taxi drivers to go ahead with strikes despite also receiving the warning.

The largest rallies took place in Milan, Turin and the capital of Rome, where young and old united to vent their anger at Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her right-wing government.

Preventative arrests were made ahead of the marches to quell violence, the Interior Ministry said Friday morning, but clashes between protesters and police still occurred in places.

Demonstrators in Milan held placards bearing anti-government slogans, “Let’s oust the Meloni government—rebellion is just,” one read. In Naples, some protesters burnt photos of Meloni.

While the industrial action is nationwide, demands have varied from one location to the next.

In the northern city of Genoa, dockworkers mobilized against the “militarization” of the port in a bid to block the export of arm shipments to conflict zones.

But in nearby Bologna, students called on the government to review education policy.

Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

Emanuela Zampa/Getty Images

The wave of civil discontent is not exclusive to Italy. Protests have swept through Europe in recent weeks as hundreds of thousands of people have demanded government intervention to ease the cost of living.

Demonstrations in France began in late September with teachers and students protesting a lack of investment in education and woeful working conditions. The protests have since escalated to reflect wider concerns about the cost of living.

A deepening housing crisis has triggered demonstrations across Spain and Portugal, with activists erecting encampments in the capitals’ central plazas.

Albania has seen a series of anti-government protests, with thousands taking to the streets to highlight alleged government corruption and to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.

And in Serbia, youth protests were effective in ousting long-standing leader Aleksandar Vučić last weekend.

Alessandra Tarantino/AP

周五，意大利50多个城市爆发大规模示威游行，与此同时，农民们将粪便倾倒在都灵的街道上。

成千上万的学生和工人走上街头，抗议生活成本飙升和医疗、教育等公共服务状况糟糕。

全国范围内的罢工和游行由教师、农业工人、医疗保健工人等发起，这些行动由反资本主义工会 Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) 带头。

斯特凡诺·雷兰迪尼/法新社/盖蒂图片社

交通运输工人原本也计划加入罢工，但在交通部长马泰奥·萨尔维尼威胁要对该行业实施制裁后，他们放弃了计划。尽管也收到了警告，USB仍敦促出租车司机继续罢工。

规模最大的集会发生在米兰、都灵和首都罗马，男女老少团结起来，表达他们对总理乔治娅·梅洛尼及其右翼政府的愤怒。

内政部周五上午表示，在游行开始前已采取预防性逮捕措施以平息暴力事件，但抗议者和警察之间仍在一些地方发生冲突。

在米兰，示威者举着标语牌，上面写着反政府口号：“推翻梅洛尼政府——反抗是正义的！”其中一块标语牌上这样写道。在意大利那不勒斯，一些抗议者焚烧了梅洛尼的照片。

虽然罢工行动遍及全国，但各地提出的要求却不尽相同。

在北部城市热那亚，码头工人动员起来反对港口的“军事化”，试图阻止向冲突地区出口武器。

但在附近的博洛尼亚，学生们呼吁政府重新审视教育政策。

马可·贝尔托雷洛/法新社/盖蒂图片社

Emanuela Zampa/Getty Images

这股民众不满的浪潮并非意大利独有。近几周来，抗议活动席卷欧洲，数十万人要求政府出手干预，以缓解生活成本压力。

法国的示威活动始于9月下旬，最初是教师和学生抗议教育投入不足和恶劣的工作条件。此后，抗议活动升级，反映出人们对生活成本的更广泛担忧。

日益严重的住房危机引发了西班牙和葡萄牙各地的示威活动，活动人士在首都的中心广场搭建了营地。

阿尔巴尼亚爆发了一系列反政府抗议活动，成千上万的人走上街头，揭露政府腐败，并要求总理埃迪·拉马辞职。

在塞尔维亚，青年抗议活动在上周末有效地推翻了长期执政的领导人亚历山大·武契奇。