Italian education minister Giuseppe Valditara receives bullet and threatening letter

Delivery of the threatening envelope

In early August 2026, an anonymous envelope addressed to the Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, arrived at the ministry headquarters on Viale Trastevere in Rome. Inside the package, staff found a threatening letter alongside a 7.65-calibre bullet. The text of the letter alleged irregularities regarding the issuance of diplomas by private schools located in the province of Salerno. The minister's spokesperson described the missive as the work of an unbalanced individual and noted that its contents were delirious. Valditara filed a formal complaint with the Carabinieri on 16 September 2026, opening an official investigation to identify the sender.

Government and parliamentary reactions

Executive figures reacted swiftly after the delivery of the letter became public. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the intimidation and called for a cross-party response.

A bullet and a threatening letter are vile acts of intimidation that can have no place in a democracy. We trust in the work of law enforcement to shed full light on what happened and in a clear and unanimous condemnation from all political forces.

Senate President Ignazio La Russa and Chamber of Deputies President Lorenzo Fontana both requested the swift identification of the perpetrators. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini cited Valditara's record of renewing three school sector collective contracts in a single parliamentary term. Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani and Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli also issued statements backing the education minister. Minister of University and Research Anna Maria Bernini addressed the boundary between lawful protest and criminal threats.

Dissent is free, criticism is legitimate, intimidation and violence will never be, my solidarity goes to Minister Valditara for the serious threats received.

Political parties and trade union responses

Support for the minister extended across party affiliations and regional governments throughout Italy. Opposition parliamentarians from the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement, and Italia Viva expressed solidarity, alongside the Futuro Nazionale group. Within Valditara's party, Lega Senate deputy vicar leader Tilde Minasi stated that the parliamentary group will continue working on school sector reforms regardless of threats. Education trade unions also condemned the letter despite ongoing disputes over education policy. General Secretary of the Flc Cgil union Gianna Fracassi denounced the incident as an attack on democratic institutions.

Violence, threats, and the culture of hatred cannot find any space in public debate and demolish the democratic principles on which our Republic is founded.

Student protests in Bologna

The disclosure of the letter followed tensions connected to the reopening of schools across the country. On 15 September 2026, two days before the complaint became public, members of the OSA student collective hung an effigy of Valditara from a window of the Liceo Minghetti in Bologna. Protesters ignited smoke bombs, chanted slogans against government education policies, and displayed banners opposing war, racism, and imperialism. In the evening following the disclosure of the mail delivery, Valditara released a statement expressing gratitude for the messages of support received from across the political spectrum.