euro|topics - Soldiers on Italy's streets

Main focus of Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Soldiers on Italy's streets

Troops have been deployed to fight crime In Italy's big cities for the past several days. All told, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government will station 3,000 soldiers in various cities to support the local police. Europe's press has harsh words for the move.

Il Manifesto - Italy

The communist daily Il Manifesto describes the deployment of soldiers on the streets of Italy's major cities as a "surreal scene in a hot summer. With their uniforms the soldiers inspire more fear than the criminals among tourists. ... This muscle-flexing display that makes Italy's Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa so happy not only highlights the negative side of pointlessness and powerlessness, it reflects the image of a country that has given in to its lowest instincts, one that in the name of security is appealing to an authority without knowing where the real danger comes from. A country that is willing to sacrifice law and democracy just to make it to the proverbial end of the month, which has become an empty leitmotiv. Everything is accepted in silence while the rest of the world watches the rise of an anachronistic dictatorship in Italy." (06/08/2008)

El País - Spain

El País expresses concern over the deployment of troops it Italian cities: "Even if the measure is legally irreproachable - because the parliament approved it in July - it nevertheless casts a pall over the country's image, it establishes a worrying precedent and is by no means sure to succeed. Why not deploy more and better-armed police officers, as the Left is justified in asking? ... But the most worrying aspect is that the soldiers seem to be there above all to go after suspected Roma, Africans and Romanians. Berlusconi must believe that the army can solve everything. And that is wrong." (06/08/2008)

Le Monde - France

In its lead article, Le Monde draws parallels between France and Italy: "To deal with the country's problems - the rubbish in Naples, the afflux of illegal immigrants, from the major fires this summer to the fight against petty crime - Silvio Berlusconi has deployed troops alongside the police. ... Whether you see this as demagogy or a necessary measure against crime, the topic of security has been at the centre of political debate in Italy for months now. Among the left it is no longer taboo. But the right-wing parties that feel much more comfortable on this terrain have made it their hobby-horse, helping them to win the parliamentary elections in April. Today they are merely keeping their election promises, while the parties on the left are having difficulty getting their message across, just as they are in France." (05/08/2008)

Die Welt - Germany

The daily Die Welt pokes fun at Silvio Berlusconi's security measures: "The Italian media mogul and part-time Prime Minister Berlusconi has now deployed the army to bring security to the country. Only a short while ago parts of the Italian constitution were stolen, so that Berlusconi was forced to make his own laws. To prevent anything like that from happening again, soldiers are now being deployed to protect, among other things, the Cathedral in Milan. So far they have been successful because the building has not yet been stolen as is common at this time of year. Otherwise, however, the deployment has proved a failure. In Pisa Berlusconi's special forces were unable to prevent traffickers from dangerously tilting the tower. Things are particularly bad in Pompeii. Despite heightened security, criminal elements there have reduced the bathing resort to rubble and ashes. ... And a gruesome sight welcomes visitors to Rome, where thieves have hardly left a stone standing in the Forum." (06/08/2008)

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, August 6, 2008

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