ISTANBUL

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on late Sunday called the anti-Olympic protesters "enemies of Italy" amid heated demonstrations over the weekend as the country began hosting the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games.

"Thousands and thousands of Italians are working at these very hours to make sure everything runs smoothly during the Olympics(...) Then there are them: the enemies of Italy and of Italians, who protest 'against the Olympics,' ensuring that these images end up on television screens around half the world -- after others have cut railway cables to prevent trains from running," Meloni wrote in a social media post, sharing US media coverage of the violent protests.

She expressed solidarity with the law enforcement forces, with the city of Milan, and "with all those who will see their work undermined by these gangs of criminals."

Around 10,000 people marched in a demonstration against the Milan–Cortina Games over the weekend to protest what they called the “unsustainable Olympics” and the presence of US ICE agents in Italy, according to ANSA news agency.

Clashes reportedly erupted during the protests after a group broke away from the march and hurled objects at police, who responded with containment charges and water cannons.

As the Olympic Games began, a series of suspected sabotage attempts targeting railway lines also disrupted intercity rail traffic, particularly in the country’s north.