Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni plans to convene an emergency security discussion on Monday following violent incidents that erupted during protests against rising living costs in Milan.

More than 5,000 people assembled over the weekend. Police used tear gas and water cannons after demonstrators, many wearing masks, hurled paving stones, bins and chairs at officers.

"To protest is a right. To destroy our cities is not," Meloni stated on Saturday, noting that "troublemakers" had taken advantage of the demonstrations to "create disorder".

Disorder and clashes have occurred alongside mostly peaceful youth-led actions in other European nations such as France, Spain and Albania.

Milanese Mayor Giuseppe Sala expressed concern over what he called a "new phenomenon" that "stems from an international context and thus sustains itself".

Speaking to Italian news agency Ansa, he described witnessing "smashed shop windows, looted stores, and frightened citizens," adding that "what occurred here mirrors events in many cities worldwide".

Clashes started on Saturday and extended into Sunday in Milan. More than 200 people were detained, 80 percent of whom were minors, Ansa reported.

The city's prosecutor's office has sought prison terms for five adults charged with looting, vandalism and resisting arrest, according to Italian news agency AGI.

Italian media noted that individuals, including police officers, sustained injuries.

Violence between demonstrators and police spread to other northern cities as well.

Meloni said people in Turin were held while "carrying cobblestones and window-breaking hammers," while a train station in Bologna was shut as a precaution after similar incidents.

The prime minister, facing an election next year, also urged her political rivals to denounce the rioting.

"Do not be ambiguous about this," she said on X, stressing that condemnation must be "unanimous" because "any hesitation becomes justification".

Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein stated her party has always rejected violence and that the disorder should not serve to silence peaceful protesters nationwide who face economic hardship, Ansa reported.

The violent events followed anti-government actions by students in several Italian cities on Friday and echoed unrest in neighboring France, where hundreds of thousands marched.