The Italian police dug up a cell of neo-Nazis called "Ordine Ario Romano" (OAR) during raids in several cities in the country on Monday.
Twelve people between the ages of 26 and 62 were charged with allegations of spreading hate speech and inciting anti-Semitic and racist acts of violence.
The "Order of Roman Aryans" is also said to have planned, together with like-minded people in Portugal, an attack on a NATO facility.
According to the police, the rather amateurish preparations for the attack with a self-made bomb were still in the early stages.
Matthias Rüb
Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.
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The access on Monday in Rome, Milan, Sassari, in several cities in the capital region of Lazio and in Sardinia had been preceded by investigations since November 2019. The investigators followed messages and postings in the social networks via which videos, texts and photos with anti-Semitic, National Socialist and racist content were distributed. The members communicated, among other things, via a WhatsApp group with the German name "Judenfrei Liga (OAR)", through which they are said to have called for acts of violence against Jews and foreigners.
The chairwoman of the Jewish community in Rome, Ruth Dureghello, thanked the investigators from the police, state security and public prosecutor's office in Rome for their efforts. The results of the investigations had shown how "anti-Semitism is spreading in social networks" and how the Internet is becoming a "platform for preparing for serious acts of violence". "We must remain vigilant and must prevent racist groups from using the Internet as a platform for their exchange and propaganda," said Dureghello.