Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday that none of the bomb threats sent to more than 6,000 schools across the country had, so far, pointed to any concrete danger.
In a video message, Meloni said thousands of Italian schools had received emails claiming a bomb was on the premises.
She said pupils had been evacuated from many schools while police carried out room-by-room checks, but that nothing had been found anywhere.
Speaking after a meeting in Rome with the relevant ministers and the heads of the intelligence and cyber security services, Meloni said there was currently no evidence of a real threat.
She said the apparent aim of the messages was to spread fear, suspicion and chaos.
Meloni noted that similar alerts were also reported in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Wednesday.
She said Italian investigators were working with their European counterparts to identify those responsible for the messages, but did not speculate about their origin.
The Prime Minister also referred to recent false bomb threats that forced dozens of flights across Europe to divert, even though no explosive devices were found.
“We will not allow an anonymous email to dictate our children’s school timetable,” Meloni said, while stressing that every new alert would still be checked.
According to Italian media, the bomb threat was contained in an email allegedly signed by “Mikhail Andropov, head of the Vilayat of Misoginistan”.
Last month, hundreds of schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Hungary and Serbia were also targeted by false alerts.
