Italy blocks official training status for police event featuring Roberto Vannacci

Ministry intervenes in union event

Italy's Department of Public Security intervened on 8 September 2026 to revoke official training accreditation from an upcoming conference in Turin featuring Member of the European Parliament Roberto Vannacci. The event, scheduled for 18 September 2026 at the NH Hotel in central Turin, was organized by police union Fsp Polizia di Stato alongside union confederation Fmpi under the title "Urban Insecurity: The Role of Institutions and Entrepreneurs." The initial authorization as professional training would have granted attending officers a full-day exemption from duty alongside formal career credits.

Following early morning communications involving Palazzo Chigi and the office of Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, central police authorities instructed local officials to reverse the status. The department formally announced that Turin Police Chief Massimo Gambino would not attend the proceedings.

It is a union initiative, for which the participation of the Questore of Turin is not scheduled, nor will the conference constitute professional development for members of the State Police.

Union and political backlash

The decision followed immediate challenges from police union Silp Cgil Piemonte and opposition lawmakers in Rome. Nicola Rossiello, regional general secretary of Silp Cgil Piemonte, formally petitioned the Turin police headquarters to cancel the accreditation, arguing that presenting a political party leader as an instructor violated the strict impartiality required of law enforcement personnel. The union cited Article 98 of the Italian Constitution, the Code of Conduct for public employees, and internal public security department directives governing technical-scientific training.

In our view, this is sufficient to undermine the requirement that the regulations demand for the recognition of self-training: the technical-scientific nature and strict neutrality of the initiative with respect to any political connotation.

In Parliament, Senate Vice President Anna Rossomando of the Democratic Party and deputy Nicola Fratoianni of Avs submitted formal questions to Piantedosi. Rossomando questioned how a political initiative had received training accreditation with service exemptions, while Fratoianni demanded that the interior minister explain what contribution Vannacci's political proposals could provide to state police training.

Union organizers defend panel

Organizers at Fsp Polizia di Stato defended the event and rejected political criticism. Luca Pantanella, the union's general secretary in Turin, stated that the conference was designed to discuss concrete solutions to urban decline and encourage business investment in neglected areas. The scheduled panel brings together Libero co-director Pietro Senaldi, clinical criminologist Emilio Chiodo, entrepreneur Francesco Toselli, and national union leader Valter Mazzetti.

The ostracism from the Cgil and the left towards our union and MEP Vannacci is incomprehensible, especially because in the past we have always invited politicians from across the political spectrum to our tables.

Union representatives described the promotional poster listing Gambino's institutional greetings as a preliminary draft, while noting that a similar Fsp conference held in Turin on 6 November 2025 had included Vannacci with official training accreditation and greetings from the previous police chief. Fsp confirmed that the 18 September 2026 panel will proceed as a standard union gathering without department accreditation.