Italy’s far-right between power aspirations and memories of the past

Shaimaa Hefzi

Italian police has announced that it had seized an air-t0-air missile in the possession of a far-right terrorist during a raid on his stronghold in northern Italy.

The police said in a statement on Monday, July 15, that during the operation the missile was in good condition and used by the Qatari army. Police arrested three people, including two near the Forli airport, and confiscated propaganda materials, especially the neo-Nazi group in that raids targeted different cities.

Italian media said the raids were part of an investigation into the Italian far-right helping separatist forces backed by Russia in eastern Ukraine.

The campaign, along with the Matera rocket, seized a range of sophisticated weapons, including the latest automatic assault rifles and rocket launchers.

Italian media have identified the suspects, Fabio del Bergio, 50, a former Italian customs official, Alessandro Monti, 42, a right-wing activist of Forza Nova, and Fabio Bernardi, 51, an Italian.

“We have some ideas about what the seized equipment can be used in, but we will not speculate on it,” police commissioner Giuseppe de Matisse told a news conference.

“At the moment, there is nothing to doubt,” said Eugenio Spina, the counterterrorism official, in an aggressive plot to use weapons.

Far-right

Extremist right-wing groups are taking their place in Italy at a time when the movement is trying to make political progress in the country at a time when the far-right movement is growing on the old continent, benefiting from the Italian government’s “curtailment” of extremist groups such as Daesh.

Italy has taken various measures to counter terrorist acts, including the investigation of sources of terrorism, including the extremism of potential individuals, through an investigative approach as a necessary activity in the prevention of extremism.

About to do it

The security forces are suspicious of terrorism, both by extremist extremists or by the ultra-right through centuries of observation, while Italy’s biggest threat came from a shorter-range appeal in March 2018, Italian Interior Minister Marco Menetti said.

“The security threat to Italy from supporters of Daesh was higher than ever,” Minetti told the press, referring to the growing number of foreign fighters trying to re-enter Europe through Italy.

But even so, the behavior of violence and terrorism from the far right has increased, to mention in 2019, the actions of the 1960s and 1970s, known as the Years of Lead.

During those years, Italy suffered from left-wing and extreme left-wing violence, and Islamic terrorism began to surface. In the 1990s, Italy began to use Italy as a transit point for conflict zones in the Balkans and North Africa.

In recent years, Italy has become more vulnerable to Islamic extremism by both local Islamists and international terrorism, and extreme right-wing extremism has emerged in Italy amidst the influx of refugees and the faltering economy.

Italian legislation

To try to control security, the Italian government implemented legislation to prevent acts of terrorism, deport suspected terrorists and punish terrorist elements. In February 2015, the government issued new legislation – known as Decree-Law 7 – in accordance with its commitment under UN Security Council Resolution 2178.

This decree makes it illegal to participate in a conflict in a foreign territory in support of a terrorist organization. In addition, the Italian government funds programs to combat extremism in prisons and throughout the country.

In late 2015, the Italian Interior Minister announced that the government would “close secret and unregulated sites, not to obstruct Islam as a religion, but to be more organized”, one week after Alfano said: “The garage mosques are Where inspiration is born for fundamentalism. ”

Altogether, there are only eight official mosques registered in Italy; the vast majority of Italian Muslims are forced to worship in temporary or unregistered mosques or Islamic centers.

By 2011, the Italian authorities had identified more than 100 unregistered mosques described by authorities as spreading “extremist ideas.”

According to the authorities, 11 of these mosques were directly or indirectly involved in terrorist activity. In 2007, for example, the authorities discovered that the imam at the Ponte Vilsino mosque in Perugia had taught children and adolescents different forms of fighting, including how to use Different types of weapons, according to the Independent.

Faced with the spread of extremism, the Italian Interior Ministry announced in January 2017 that it would provide lessons for Italian imams on the Italian constitution and the importance of freedom of religion and expression.

According to reports, in the early 21st century, jihadists refrained from targeting Italy directly; in order to avoid a campaign by the authorities, this changed after Italy participated in US-led interventions in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003).

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war and the rise of the daisy, the Italian authorities have worked to combat the growing threat of cells linked to the Al Qaeda organization inside Italy and internationally. However, Italy has not seen a jihadist-related attack similar to the Al-Qaeda attacks in Madrid in 2003 or the London bombings of 2007, Paris’s Paris attacks in November 2015, or the Brussels bombings in March 2016, according to a report by the Jamestown Anti-Terrorist Center.

Despite the decline in operations, Italy remains a clear target in occasional threats.

On 31 January 2018, INTERPOL issued a list of 50 members of the Tunisians who were believed to have entered Italy by boat between July and October 2017. A year later, between March 15 and 29, 2018, Italian police carried out four counterterrorism operations, At least eight men accused of supporting or planning terrorist attacks inspired by a populist in the country.

It is believed that the majority of Islamic extremist activities inside Italy are concentrated in the north, especially the Lombardy region, which includes 26.5% of Italian Muslims, according to the Military Center for Strategic Studies of Italy, the city of Milan in the Lombardy region is “the center of radical Islam in Italy”; High rate of terrorism-related arrests.

Between 2001 and 2011, more than half of the terrorist-related arrests in Italy took place in Milan, with police operations continuing to combat organized crime and extreme right-wing and leftist movements.

The prosecution of Daesh members does not require them to be involved in terrorist acts. Authorities hold sympathetic sympathizers and potential wolves.

At the international level, Italy complies with all EU counterterrorism regulations and is a signatory to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism. Italy also cooperates with Albania, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in matters related to counter-terrorism and plays a key role in the global anti-terrorism coalition.

In addition, during the fiscal year 2017-2018, Italy contributed 1,099 personnel and $255 million to United Nations peacekeeping missions.