ROME -- Italy will respond to growing terror threats in Europe in an appropriately Italian way -- by increasing funding to museums, theaters and concerts.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi laid out a plan Tuesday, which includes 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in new spending, to ramp up security in the wake of the Paris attacks. Of the allotted funds, $1 billion would be spent on security and defense purposes and the other $1 billion would go to cultural programs.

"What happened in Paris signaled a step-up in the cultural battle that we are living," Renzi said at a speech at the Capitoline Museum in Rome. "They imagine terror, we answer with culture. They destroy statues, we love art. They destroy books, we are the country of libraries."