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Violent clashes gripped Albania’s capital for the 5th consecutive day on Saturday, with police firing rubber bullets at protesters who demand Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation and set buildings on fire.
Thousands of demonstrators have packed Tirana since Tuesday, calling on Rama to resign over poor conditions at universities and high tuition costs.
On Saturday, demonstrators hurled fireworks, metal objects, rocks and Molotov cocktails at officers and set cars and trash bins alight to form flaming barricades against advancing police.
Marking a sharp escalation, police used rubber bullets, water cannons, pepper spray and tear gas against the crowds for the first time since the demonstrations started, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporters on the scene witnessed.
Unrest ran through the night, and flames or heavy damage hit several buildings, among them a court, banks and a post office. Ambulances raced to collect the injured as the protest entered its 10th hour. The health ministry told AFP that 35 people were wounded on Saturday, including 18 police officers and 17 protesters.
State Police Director Skender Hita told a news conference that “rubber bullets were used in a limited manner.” Albanian law permits officers to fire them at protests only in extreme cases. "All the means used have been used in a limited manner and only certified equipment is used, which is allowed for such cases in European Union countries," he said.
Authorities arrested 167 people during the week and opened criminal proceedings against 388, he said. Disciplinary probes target seven police officers suspended for exceeding their authority. Hita noted that 132 officers, mostly in Tirana, have suffered injuries across the five days of unrest, and he called “those committing these acts of violence to cease their illegal activities immediately.”
Demonstrators set the entrance of the Bank of Albania and the Supreme Court building ablaze, while firefighters hurried to put out the flames. Justice Minister Toni Gogu said this was “not strike at the government” but at “two independent institutions” that “serve the country and its citizens.”
Early on, protesters torched a suitcase and tossed it into the education ministry courtyard, symbolically signaling they do not want to leave Albania.
Journalism student Sinan Billa called the protest “a reaction to express discontent at the silence of our government.” “We are not asking for privileges. We are demanding our rights, our future and a better country,” he said.
Visiting local businesses hit by the unrest, Rama said he had respect for the students and noted that “their right to protest must and will be protected.” “Their voices, the voices of young people and of every citizen who has taken part in protests today, must and will be heard with respect,” Rama continued. Yet he stressed that he “will not allow anyone to jeopardise the future of this country.”
The latest turmoil follows months of anti-government rallies in the Balkan country that began over a contentious resort project tied to U.S. President Donald Trump’s family.
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