(ANSA) - Rome, March 24 - Security measures have been stepped up at underground and railway stations, airports, monuments and tourist sites across Italy following the terror attacks in Brussels on Tuesday that killed 32 people and injured 300.

Police stopped two Iraqi citizens on their way to London at Fiumicino airport on Wednesday, but let them go after checks. An unattended bag at the airport also sparked temporary panic, but turned out to contain only a camera.

Security measures have been beefed up in Rome ahead of the Easter weekend, when Pope Francis will lead ceremonies usually attended by tens of thousands across the city.

Particularly tight security is expected at the "Way of the Cross" procession at the Colosseum on Friday evening, marking Jesus' last hours before his crucifixion.

Rome Prefect Franco Gabrielli said there were plans to introduce metal detector tests at metro stations.

In Milan, Prefect Alessandro Marangoni has said all railway and underground stations need extra attention, while in Florence more checks are planned at the airport and areas around tourist sites.

In Bologna, surveillance has increased at all sensitive areas, including the main train station and the airport.

Several southern Italian airports have introduced new security measures. In Catania in Sicily, only people with an airplane ticket are being allowed into the Fontanarossa airport.

Palermo airport has strengthened security with sniffer dogs and extra external controls.

In Calabria, Lamezia Terme's airport has requested army back-up for its security.

Meanwhile in Venice, regional councillor Alberto Villanova has proposed banning pedestrians from wearing helmets or any form of head wear that makes it difficult to be identified, including traditional Muslim attire such as the niqab face-covering veil.

Also on Thursday, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano announced the creation of a national plan to prevent the radicalization of disaffected Muslim youth. "In Italy I will propose a national anti-radicalization plan and strategy to prevent there being planted a seed that then, in the future, will produce poisoned fruit," he said on his way in to an extraordinary meeting of EU interior and justice ministers in Brussels. "Italy is a healthy country on this score and we must, from a cultural standpoint (that is) in the link between culture and security, launch a national anti-radicalization plan".

He added that "terrorism is fast and Europe is often slow". He said "we have to speed up the EU to be able to face threats that have the pace of global crime and the strength and breadth of organisations that do not seem to be complex but which find meeting points between one another". The extraordinary meeting was called after the Brussels Islamist terrorist attacks which killed 32 people and injured 130, to agree on concerted moves to fight the terror threat.

In related news, Justice Minister Andrea Orlando said Italy has all the resources needed to best contain the risk of terrorism. "I think (Interior) Minister Alfano has rightly said on numerous occasions that no country is at zero risk," Orlando said. "Italy has a magistrature, an intelligence and police forces of the highest level, unfortunately also as a result of training received during periods of great drama," he continued, probably in reference to domestic terrorism during the so-called Years of Lead during the 1970s.

"To say this removes the risk is irresponsible...but we have resources that allow us to contain the risk in the best possible way," Orlando said. The justice minister also recalled that Italy has one of the most advanced anti-terrorism laws in Europe, which criminalises conduct allegedly in support of terrorist activity.

In addition, the country has "given itself a coordinating structure at national level, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office," Orlando said. "This cannot allow us to sit back as we have to continue working, but it can allow us to say we haven't underestimated the danger or the risks," he continued. Orlando added that the "crucial and strategic" aim remains stronger coordination between the national police, intelligence services and judicial authorities of the various countries. In the meantime "we must strengthen all channels of cooperation and also adapt our domestic legislation," he said.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni earlier in the day called for the creation of a European intelligence service to combat the threat of Islamist terrorism. "There's a big problem in Europe, not just concerning security and terrorism, but also in implementing the decisions made," Gentiloni told Radio Anch'io. "Just think that the EU has an anti-terrorism chief, as decided after the Madrid attack (in 2004), but it does not have an intelligence service in support, with agents on the ground. "That doesn't mean there are no information exchanges between European intelligence services. "The services speak to each other. But the minimum requirement at the moment is for them to do this in a systematic way".

Italian Premier Matteo Renzi is leading a push for greater integration of EU security and defence policy to ward off terror attacks such as those in Brussels which left at least 32 dead and 130 wounded, the Financial Times said Thursday. Renzi "has positioned himself as a leading proponent of those calling for more integration as the solution. A common defence and security policy was now necessary for the EU, he said, speaking after the attacks on Tuesday," the FT said. But it said "Mr Renzi's proposals are unlikely to go far; Britain, in particular, is staunchly opposed to a common EU defence policy, but many of his counterparts in Europe echo his frustration, and the need for the EU as an organisation to show political will on security," it said. The article, entitled latest Attacks Revive Push For Collective Response On Security, ended by quoting an anonymous top former British counterterror official as saying that the fundamental problem in Europe "is the way in which intelligence work has often failed to translate into good policing".