Italy deploys hundreds of soldiers as nationwide protests raise fears of fresh violence

NEW: Italy deploys hundreds of soldiers as nationwide protests erupt over living costs and military spending, with security tightened after violent clashes in Milan last weekend.

Hundreds of Italian soldiers are on city streets this morning.

Rome ordered the deployment after violent clashes in Milan last weekend, and with fresh nationwide protests expected today, security has been tightened across the country. You can see them here, army paratroopers patrolling Milan while shops board up their windows before the crowds gather.

The anger is over living costs and military spending, and it is not confined to Italy. Armoured vehicles have been positioned in public squares as a precaution, and this is what that looks like on the ground. France has tens of thousands of officers deployed this same weekend, Madrid is seeing protests, and crowds have gathered outside the prime minister's office in Albania. Soldiers standing guard at public gatherings, like these, are now a familiar sight across the continent.

A government putting its army on its own streets is a measure of how seriously it fears what today could bring.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.