Premier Meloni: Olympic protesters are 'enemies of Italy' - ESPN

MILAN — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni condemned recent anti-Olympics protests in Milan and alleged sabotage of train infrastructure, calling those responsible «enemies of Italy and Italians» early Sunday.

The protesters «demonstrate 'against the Olympics,' causing these images to end up on televisions around the world. After others cut the railway cables to prevent the trains from leaving,» Meloni said in a statement on Facebook, adding that thousands of Italians, including many volunteers, are working to keep the Games running smoothly.

«Solidarity, once again, with the police, the city of Milan, and all those who will see their work undermined by these gangs of criminals,» she said.

Italy's transport ministry said it has opened a terrorism investigation into the synchronized sabotage of railway lines in northern Italy on Saturday, the first day of the Games.

No one has claimed responsibility, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The alleged sabotage first hit the central Bologna hub, which governs rail traffic between northern and southern Italy, around 6 a.m. Saturday when it was still dark out, ANSA reported. It then struck Pesaro-area trains along the Adriatic coast.

Infrastructure was burned or cut to cause the sabotage in both cases, the news agency said.

The transport ministry didn't provide details but said it would seek millions of euros in compensation from the perpetrators. Thousands of passengers were impacted by the hourslong delays.

In Milan, Italian police fired tear gas and a water cannon Saturday evening at dozens of protesters who threw firecrackers and tried to access a highway near a Winter Olympics venue. The brief confrontation came at the end of a peaceful march by thousands against the