Truckers protesting high diesel prices widened their blockades across southern Italy on Thursday, prompting Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to convene an emergency Council of Ministers meeting at noon to approve a decree, Sky TG24 reported. The measure is expected to bundle support for the road haulage sector with funding for agriculture. Mayors of Naples and Bari warned their cities risk paralysis, with markets empty and businesses preparing to shut down.
Why it matters
The standoff tests how far the government will go to end a disruption that has hit food supplies and could affect waste collection. It also puts pressure on Meloni to explain her response in parliament, where opposition parties are demanding she address lawmakers, according to Sky TG24.
Blockades lifted in Sicily and Calabria, farmers stay put
The picture is mixed by region. In Sicily, the Association of Sicilian Hauliers suspended its protest, which had held up traffic on stretches of the Messina-Catania motorway, outside Palermo's port and on other roads, Sky TG24 reported. The Aias group also called off its action on the island.
In Calabria, hauliers ended their blockades as well, but farmers said they would keep their pickets at key points across the region. Only farm vehicles and some trucks not affiliated with unions remained parked along the roads, according to Sky TG24. Fedralog, the regional logistics federation, described the hauliers' decision to stand down as difficult but considered.
The earlier blockades strained food deliveries, and waste collection was also at risk, Sky TG24 reported. Lifting the haulage protest could help those sectors recover, since the truck stoppage had caused the greatest disruption.
Hard line from Rome, and a denial from Palazzo Chigi
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi wrote to prefects and police chiefs asking them to watch for criminal infiltration of the protests, Sky TG24 reported. The Interior Ministry said it would keep supplies of essential goods moving, and police were ready to escort any convoy that requested it — with 500 trucks already covered between Naples and its province, according to the report.
The government has also taken a tougher approach, with identifications and complaints filed, Sky TG24 reported.
In Naples, the Casoria junction of the A1 Naples-Milan motorway remained blocked, with slowdowns reported on the Asse Mediano and the Domiziana road, according to Sky TG24. Long queues formed at open fuel stations, adding to traffic problems. Blockades at Caianello and at the port of Naples were cleared the previous evening and overnight, while pickets at Nola, Maddaloni, Avellino Est and in the province of Salerno were still in place.
Palazzo Chigi's press office rejected a report in Il Fatto Quotidiano that said toilet paper was running short at the prime minister's office because of the truck blockades. The office called the claim, published as the paper's front-page headline, completely false and ridiculous, saying its warehouses are regularly stocked with supplies for months. It added that neither its press office nor Romeo Gestioni, the company handling supplies for institutional offices, had been contacted before publication, and invited the paper's authors to inspect the stores in person.
What to watch
All eyes are on the noon cabinet meeting and whether the decree clears the remaining pickets. Opposition parties want Meloni to report to parliament on the crisis.
