On Thursday morning, November 12, 2026, the email inboxes of Italian school principals were once again flooded with bomb threat messages. According to reports, some educational institutions were evacuated, while checks were initiated at others. Signed as 'Mikhail Andropov', the bomb threat email is identical in style and content to the messages sent the previous day, Wednesday, to 6,300 schools nationwide. At that time, hundreds of institutions decided to evacuate students and staff, causing widespread public resonance and a wave of alarm among parents.
Emergency meeting at Palazzo Chigi
On Thursday morning, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held a meeting at Palazzo Chigi with government representatives and opposition party leaders dedicated to the emergency situation surrounding the school threats. Following the meeting, the head of government appealed for unity among all political forces and announced that the houses of parliament would be urgently briefed on the course of events. Ministers Tajani, Crosetto, and Piantedosi were tasked with preparing and conducting briefings for lawmakers.
New response protocol for mass threats
In the afternoon of November 12, as announced by the government, the Inter-ministerial Committee for Security (Cisr) will hold a meeting to establish a single operational protocol for responding to threat messages. According to preliminary provisions of the document, in the absence of additional specific data going beyond the mere receipt of a mass email that would suggest a real danger exists, building evacuations will not be carried out. At the same time, the prefect retains the right to make an independent decision to evacuate in the presence of concrete and specific signs of risk.
Opposition: 'Ready to cooperate, but without unlimited powers'
Democratic Party Secretary Elly Schlein stated after the meeting at Palazzo Chigi that 'it is good that the discussion took place, but it must continue in the proper bodies, namely in parliament and Copasir'. She stressed that the opposition is 'fully ready to cooperate in the face of threats aimed at destabilizing the country and creating panic', but expressed disagreement with granting the government 'unlimited powers regarding the decisions it will make'. According to her, no concrete proposals were presented by the cabinet to the opposition during the November 12 meeting.
Context: who is behind the signature 'Mikhail Andropov'
The identical signature on the threat letters on Wednesday and Thursday points to a single author or coordinator of the mailing. Italian law enforcement agencies, according to authorities' statements, are investigating to identify the sender and the sources of the mailing. At the time of writing, no official data on arrests or the identification of suspects has been published in open sources. The situation remains dynamic: parliamentary hearings and the Cisr meeting on Thursday evening and Friday are expected to provide additional information on the scale of the mailing and the security measures implemented in schools.
