“Liberticida and repressive state”, “Authoritarian turning point”, “Government of fascist culture”, “criminal populism”. And finally: “From today Italy is more similar to the Türkiye of Erdogan and the Hungary of Orbán”. The criticisms of the opposition on the Security Decree have reached exasperated levels these days.

First ok to dl security in the room (with protest): what changes and why it is creating controversy

It is absolutely legitimate to be disagreed with the measures provided for by the decree, but it appears not very dignified for the center -left constantly invoking the spectrum of fascism or the threat of authoritarian drifts every time the executive intervenes on the issue of safety. A topic that the left continues to underestimate, especially in the city like Milan, where the perception of insecurities and urban degradation is widespread and concrete.

While the Security Decree tries to intervene firmly against the abusive occupations of real estate, from Brussels the MEP AVS, Ilaria Salis, openly deployed in defense of these occupations. The real problem, however, is the historical link between the Italian center-left and those social centers that often feed tensions with the police and with those radical environmental movements that aim to block great public works, as already happened with the Tav Turin-Lyon. In short, the center -left seems to persist in protecting mainly that slice of electorate represented by the social centers and the most radical youth and environmental movements.

If the left is stopped at “fascism”

Defending a part of civil society is obviously legitimate, but when it comes to protecting the authority and dignity of the democratic institutions, such as law enforcement. On the contrary, the center -left is always ready to defend the judiciary and judges strenuously, but remains punctually silent or ambiguous when it comes to supporting police and carabinieri who, every day, protect our cities.

“The Italian police are racial profiling”

To worsen the picture there is Ecri, the European Commission against racism and intolerance, which invited Italy to “conduct an independent study on the phenomenon of racial profiling within the police”, thus insinuating the doubt that our agents are racist. A very serious accusation that pushed the whole center -right to defend the police forces, while an embarrassing silence arrived from the center -left.

Until Italian oppositions will abandon this ambiguous and suspicious attitude towards those who protect public order, their credibility on the security issue will remain compromised. In the rest of Europe, socialists and progressives have long been looking for concrete answers for those citizens who, rightly or not, live in fear and daily uncertainty. In Italy, however, the left continues to shout to “fascism” even in the face of measures explicitly requested by the voters to the latest policies of 2022.