Palazzo del Quirinale

President Matteo Salvini strolled through his palace, relaxing for the weekend after a year of great progress throughout Europe. Sanctions on Russia had ended, (save for the arms embargo) and it was seeming like a great time and opportunity to relax.

His entire policies of his Presidency were taken care of within six months of taking office. He still had six and a half years left as President. What was he going to do now? As he wondered this, several members of his cabinet approached him. "There's been a problem."

Outside Italian Parliament

Italy receives the majority of refugees and asylum seekers who reach Europe. An estimated 192,000 people have sought asylum in Italy since 2017. Italy hosts an estimated 491,000 undocumented migrants. 80,000 of which were already forcibly removed and sent to Algeria back in 2024 with another 90,000 expected to go by the end of this year. Next year, another 150,000 are expected to be removed.

Hundreds upon thousands of people in Italy were protesting and counter-protesting the recent and massive emigration from the refugee centers in the country. In just under two years, the President has removed half of the refugees taken in from Syria while police are rounding up thousands of undocumented migrants every day. Asylum applicants who stated their religion was Muslim or simply other-than-Christian (Altro che Christian/ACC STATUS) were denied and sent back to their country of origin. The violence has been limited but the outcry from those sympathetic to these refugees has grown louder.

They stood out in the cold morning outside parliament. It was going to be a rainy afternoon so most had umbrellas equipped. They marched in silence throughout the night, holding candles for those that could not be there with them. For those who were removed, thrown out and sent back to their home-countries. For most, this meant a death penalty.

There was nothing to go back to.

Italians knew this and there they stood throughout the cold night, marching across Rome as they prayed. Catholics and fellow Muslims came together to stand for those who were being sent back.

A few hours after sunrise, the sky turned gloomy as the shouting started. People were standing together, yelling out at members of parliament for failing to stop this crisis. Italians were angry, not simply in Parliament itself but for all of Europe for abandoning the entire foundation of the European Union. How could the World sit back as sanctions on Russia ended and Muslims were forced out of the country?

Could nobody else see this facade that these 500 soldiers to Georgia was nothing but eye-candy to try and convince people that the President wasn't in Putin's pockets? Was the very foundation of the European Union breaking apart?

Protests would continue from now on over the course of the next few months. The people were getting fed up. A small entourage of counter-protesters took to the scenes as both shouted profanities at each other but it has yet to grow in violence.