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Clashes between protesters and riot police continued in central Tirana on October 20 as demonstrators pelted officers with rocks and cobblestones while authorities responded with tear gas and water cannon marking the seventh day of violence in the Albanian capital. A convoy of police vehicles advanced down a broad boulevard led by an armoured truck according to footage and reporting from the scene. Prime Minister Edi Rama addressing police chiefs held up a rock hurled at officers the previous day and declared that negotiating with such actions would mean the state had fallen.
The protests initially focused on university conditions tuition fees and the cost of living have broadened into calls for Rama’s resignation over alleged corruption building on months of anti-government action. The movement has its roots in the Flamingo Revolution that erupted in May over plans for a luxury development on the Adriatic coast involving US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner according to a Reuters dispatch. That project has raised concerns about environmental damage to protected wetlands and wider graft in the administration that has governed since 2013.
Official figures placed the number of injured at 295 before the latest round of violence with 186 of those being police officers the authorities said. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has recorded hundreds of injuries across the week including both protesters and law enforcement personnel. Police have arrested numerous individuals with numbers exceeding 100 in the early days alone according to national police chief Skender Hita.
Rama has rejected demands for his resignation and blamed the unrest on radicalised youth influenced by external forces. He said the protesters included young men and women who have been radicalised by dark forces in Europe and the US. Rama further warned that Albanians must choose between continued disorder or progress toward European Union membership which the country aims to achieve by 2030 an ambition a government assessment linked to the need for stability.
Demonstrators have targeted a range of government structures during the week including the education ministry where a floor was set ablaze the interior ministry and even the Supreme Court. Protesters many of them masked students from high schools and universities constructed burning barricades with rubbish bins and vehicles in several instances. In response officers have employed rubber bullets for the first time in these protests as confirmed by Hita in a news conference.
The unrest has spread beyond Tirana to cities including Durrës Shkodër Vlora and others amplifying the challenge to the Socialist Party government. President Bajram Begaj has appealed for calm and emphasised that the constitution must be respected by all sides. As the situation evolves the scale of injuries and arrests continues to mount with each passing day of confrontation.
