On a Wednesday morning, a single threatening message slipped into the inboxes of 312 Italian schools, most of them in Rome, and for a few hours a country's classrooms emptied as parents, teachers and children stood in the uncertain space between alarm and relief. The government has judged the warning a hoax designed to frighten, and it has found no sign of real danger, yet the same fabricated signature appearing in Bulgaria and Ireland has made the episode feel larger than its contents. Europe, still shaken by recent attacks on supermarkets, broadcasters and other everyday institutions, now mu
Hundreds of Italian Schools Evacuated After Bomb Threats Rome Calls a Hoax Amid Hybrid Warfare Fears
Hundreds of schools were evacuated, disrupting students, families, and staff, with officials warning the threats were intended to cause terror.
312 schools received the same e-mail at 10 a.m.
Mark
Three hundred twelve schools got one e-mail. Why is the government so sure it's a hoax?
Mimi
Meloni said the investigations so far show no evidence of concrete danger. She described the reports as part of a strategy to cause alarm.
Luke
Worth noting that's "so far." It's an assessment from the investigation, not a final finding. The schools were still evacuated.
Mark
And the link to other countries?
Mimi
The Italian e-mail carried the same fake name as messages sent Friday to newsrooms in Bulgaria and Ireland. About 300 schools in Northern Ireland were also hit.
Luke
But the source says it wasn't immediately clear if Northern Ireland's threats came from the same sender. The shared name ties Italy, Bulgaria and Ireland, not necessarily the rest.
Mark
So is this hybrid warfare?
Mimi
Leaders are worried, given attacks on supermarkets, air traffic controllers, blood banks and broadcasters. France summoned Iran's ambassador over the freezer cyberattacks.
Luke
Iran denies involvement, and nobody has tied the school e-mails to those attacks. That's a concern, not a finding.
Mimi
Crosetto himself warned that it isn't always hostile states; sometimes it's attention-seekers.
Luke
Which is the honest state of play: the author is unknown.
Le Pouls
- A single e-mail reached 312 Italian schools at 10 a.m. and set off evacuations across several major cities.
- Parents, staff and students were pulled out of their buildings by a threat the government now believes has no basis in fact.
- Ministers are pressing for calm, insisting there is no evidence of danger while warning against leaping to conclusions about who is behind it.
- The same fake signature surfaced in messages to Bulgaria, Ireland and Northern Ireland, pulling a local scare into a continental question.
- Leaders are weighing whether the threats belong to a wider pattern of hybrid attacks, with an emergency cabinet meeting set for the afternoon.
On a Wednesday morning, a single threatening message slipped into the inboxes of 312 Italian schools, most of them in Rome, and for a few hours a country's classrooms emptied as parents, teachers and children stood in the uncertain space between alarm and relief. The government has judged the warning a hoax designed to frighten, and it has found no sign of real danger, yet the same fabricated signature appearing in Bulgaria and Ireland has made the episode feel larger than its contents. Europe, still shaken by recent attacks on supermarkets, broadcasters and other everyday institutions, now must decide whether it is looking at a scattered set of pranks or at the quiet opening of a more coordinated campaign. For the moment, the question remains open, and the people who were sent home from school are living inside it.
At ten on Wednesday morning, the same e-mail arrived in the inboxes of 312 Italian schools. It claimed a powerful explosive with a remote detonator had been hidden inside the buildings. Most of the schools that received it were in Rome, but other major cities were targeted too, and across them students were hurried out into the street.
The government moved fast to say it did not believe the threat was real. The head of the national association of school principals called it the work of a hoaxer seeking chaos, and Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said the aim was to spread terror among thousands of families. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cabinet called an emergency meeting for the afternoon, and Meloni said investigators had found no evidence of a concrete danger, only what appeared to be a strategy to cause alarm.
What unsettled officials is that Italy was not alone. The same false name signed similar messages sent to newsrooms in Bulgaria and Ireland, and roughly 300 schools in Northern Ireland were also affected, though it is unclear whether the same sender was responsible.
That overlap has revived fears of hybrid warfare in Europe, following attacks on supermarkets, air traffic controllers, blood banks and broadcasters. France has summoned Iran's ambassador over cyberattacks that defrosted supermarket freezers, and Tehran denies involvement. Crosetto urged caution, noting that attention-seekers and troublemakers also cause this kind of havoc.
For now, the confirmed facts are narrow: 312 schools received an identical threat, evacuations happened, and no real danger has been found. Who wrote the messages, and whether any state stands behind them, is still unknown.
At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, the same e-mail landed in the inboxes of 312 Italian schools. It said a powerful explosive device with a remote detonator had been left in the building. Most of the schools that received it were in Rome, though several other major cities were also targeted, and evacuations followed across them.
The government moved quickly to say it did not believe the threat was real. Antonello Giannelli, head of the National Association of School Principals, called it clearly the work of a hoaxer trying to sow chaos. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said the messages were also meant to spread terror among thousands of families.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cabinet was to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday afternoon, according to Palazzo Chigi. In a statement posted to social media, Meloni said the government was closely monitoring the numerous reports of bomb threats at schools, and that law enforcement agencies and institutions at every level were working to track the situation and reassure citizens, families and school staff. Based on the investigations so far, she said, there was no evidence that a concrete danger existed. The reports, in her words, appeared to be part of a strategy aimed at causing alarm.
What has unsettled officials is that Italy was not alone. The Italian e-mail was signed with the same fake name as similar messages sent on Friday to newsrooms in Bulgaria and Ireland. Roughly 300 schools in Northern Ireland were also affected, although it was not immediately clear whether the same sender was behind those threats.
That overlap has fed concern about hybrid warfare in Europe. Recent attacks on supermarkets, air traffic controllers, blood banks and broadcasters across the continent have led some leaders to worry that the incidents may be part of a coordinated effort. On Tuesday, France summoned the Iranian ambassador over cyberattacks that caused supermarket freezers to defrost. Tehran has denied any involvement.
Crosetto, for his part, cautioned against leaping to conclusions. It is not always the work of foreign countries or hostile entities, he said; there are also attention-seekers and lunatics who simply want to unleash mayhem.
For now, the confirmed picture is narrow: 312 schools received an identical threat, evacuations took place, and the government says it has found no sign of real danger. Whether the messages in Italy, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Bulgaria share an author, and whether any state is behind them, remains to be established. The cabinet's emergency meeting is the next point to watch.
Citations marquantes
Based on the investigations conducted, there is no evidence to suggest that a concrete danger exists.— Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
It is not always the work of foreign countries or hostile entities; there are also attention-seekers and lunatics.— Defense Minister Guido Crosetto
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Politics & Governance