Neo-fascists exploit 'no-vax' rage, posing dilemma for Italy

Italy is wrestling with how to deal with a neo-fascist party that has violently exploited anger over the government's anti-COVID restrictions

ROME -- An extreme-right political party's violent exploitation of anger over Italy's coronavirus restrictions is forcing authorities to wrestle with the country's fascist legacy and fueling fears there could be a replay of last week's mobs trying to force their way toward Parliament.

Starting Friday, anyone entering workplaces in Italy must have received at least one vaccine dose, or recovered from COVID-19 recently or tested negative with two days, using the country's Green Pass to prove their status. Italians already use the pass to enter restaurants, theaters, gyms and other indoor entertainment, or to take long-distance buses, trains or domestic flights.

But 10,000 opponents of that government decree turned out in Rome's vast Piazza del Popolo last Saturday in a protest that degenerated into alarming violence.

It's the mixing and overlap of the extreme right and those against Italy's vaccine mandates thatare causing worries, even though the opposition to vaccines is still a distinct minority in a country where 80% of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated.