Meloni visits TAV construction site after clashes injure 126 police, calling it 'organized violence'

The visit

Premier Giorgia Meloni and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi arrived by helicopter at the Chiomonte construction site in the Susa Valley on Monday morning, two days after violent clashes erupted during a No Tav protest against the Turin-Lyon high-speed rail link. They were joined by national police chief Vittorio Pisani, Turin police commissioner Massimo Gambino, and prefect Donato Cafagna. The group toured the damage and met with law enforcement officers and workers before departing by helicopter for Turin Caselle airport.

One hundred twenty law enforcement officers were injured in last Saturday's clashes against the Turin-Lyon high-speed rail infrastructure. The scene you can see behind us is not a war zone; it is the scene of an alleged protest. But this is not dissent; this is organized, premeditated violence, and it must be treated as such.

Meloni recorded the video message at the site and posted it to her social media accounts. She called on the judiciary and all investigators to do their utmost, adding that "a normal state cannot tolerate something like this."

The damage and investigation

Telt, the company building the rail line, estimated around one million euros in damage at the Chiomonte site alone. Investigators have identified 436 people suspected of involvement in the violence, some from France, Germany, and Belgium. Police seized Molotov cocktails, gas masks, homemade bombs, and helmets from hooded protesters. Four foreign nationals have been detained, with their positions still under review by prosecutors. At least 800 participants in the Alta Velocità festival were identified during reinforced checks.

Political reactions

Interior Minister Piantedosi, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, described the attack as an assault on the State itself and pointed to coordination among international anarchist groups. President Sergio Mattarella expressed solidarity with the injured officers. The centre-right bloc had over the weekend accused left-wing forces of connivance with the movement.

We are facing a government whose members instrumentalize violent acts to throw them at the opposition, even though they know we have nothing to do with those fringe groups, of which we are targets. Why do they instrumentalize to accuse us of connivance? In four years of government they have failed miserably on security.

Schlein, the PD leader, made the remarks in an interview on La7. She called for institutions and politics to work together to isolate violence.

The No Tav movement

The No Tav movement has long opposed the Turin-Lyon high-speed rail project. In a social media post after Saturday's events, the movement hailed the day as a "great day of struggle for the Susa Valley." The government has framed the violence as an attack on the Republic, with Palazzo Chigi describing it as a subversive offensive.