Water cannons and tear gas against the demonstrators, new stone throwing and tensions in front of the Ministry of Education. For the third consecutive day the protest shakes Tirana and spreads to other cities in Albania. The students are calling for financial aid, better universities and the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama. The prime minister, however, rules out leaving: “Governments are changed through democratic elections. We had elections last year, not a revolution”, he declared to the Reuters agency.
In the capital, the new disturbances pushed Parliament to cancel its session. Groups of young people, some hooded and with their faces covered, threw stones at the officers near the Ministry of Education, which had already been targeted in the previous days. The police responded with water cannons and tear gas and stopped some protesters.
Ministries hit and barricades in the streets
The center of Tirana bears the signs of the violent protests of the last few hours: burned bins, destroyed bus stops, damaged traffic lights and barricades along some of the main roads. During the clashes, public buildings were hit, including the offices of the ministries of Education and Finance, and fires broke out in shops and other structures.
Images from local broadcasters also showed a group of people breaking into a police station and devastating the premises, while other protesters threw Molotov cocktails at government buildings. According to the budget reported by the public broadcaster RTSH following the violence on Wednesday 14 October, 65 people were arrested and 51 officers were injured.
Several students explicitly distanced themselves from the acts of violence. Meanwhile, the mobilization has spread outside the capital, with boycotts of lessons and protest initiatives also in Scutari, Elbasan, Durres and Korçë.
Why are the students protesting?
At the center of the claims are the cost of studies and living, the conditions of university facilities, the lack of economic support and the difficulties in finding work after graduation. The request for interventions on education is accompanied by accusations of corruption and protests from the political class.
The movement is part of a broader mobilization, started in recent months against a luxury tourism project on the southern coast, supported by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. The protests, initially focused on the protection of a wetland, gradually involved other issues and targeted both the government and the conservative opposition.
Rama accuses the opposition: “Ready to discuss with the students”
Rama, reconfirmed for a fourth term in last year’s elections, claims that opposition figures are behind the devastation. An accusation that the prime minister reiterated in a video shot among the damage to the College of Europe in Tirana, distinguishing those responsible for the violence from the students.
The head of government said he was willing to discuss the cost of education and other requests, but condemned the attacks on institutions. He also told Reuters that he will not allow the violence to compromise Albania’s path to joining the European Union.
The President of the Republic Bajram Begaj recalled the right to peaceful protest, asking the police to respect the law and the principle of proportionality. Concern about the escalation was also expressed by the European Union delegation in Albania, which hoped for a proportionate response from the police.