Italian police have turned water cannon on anti-fascist protesters who were trying to disrupt a planned campaign appearance by the head of the neo-fascist Forza Nuova in Bologna.
Clashes broke out on Friday afternoon when police intervened to prevent anti-fascist demonstrators from occupying a square in the traditionally left-wing city of Bologna where the Forza Nuova leader was scheduled to speak.
Clashes in Bologna (Giorgio Benvenuti/ANSA via AP)
The news agency ANSA said four students and one police officer were injured.
The protests come amid fears of a revival of neo-fascist sentiment ahead of Italy’s national election on March 4.
Forza Nuova leader Roberto Fiore arrives (Giorgio Benvenuti/ANSA via AP)
Pierluigi Bersani, a former government minister who is running for a small left-wing party, joined the demonstration, saying the way to fight “regurgitated fascists and terroristic phenomenon” is to “go into the streets, and go there together”.
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