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Edi Rama blames “foreign hands” for Albania’s student protests
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama blamed the unrest on “foreign hands” and refused to resign. On the fifth day of student protests in Tirana, police used rubber bullets for the first time.
RuskiGazeta Editorial DeskUpdated:
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose resignation students have demanded for five days, has claimed that “foreign hands that do not wish for Albania to be at peace” are behind the unrest. Rama argued the violence was fueled by “the most irrational hatred.”
Rama, who has led the government since 2013 and was re-elected for a fourth term last year, refuses to resign. “Last year, we had elections, not a revolution,” he told Reuters. On Saturday, he softened his tone, pledging to protect students’ right to protest, but accused the conservative opposition of inciting violence.
Day five: rubber bullets
On Saturday, police in Tirana used rubber bullets for the first time since the protests began. Demonstrators threw stones, petrol bombs and fireworks near the prime minister’s office, and a car was set on fire nearby. Police responded with tear gas, water cannon and baton charges.
National police chief Skender Hita confirmed the rubber bullets were used “in a limited manner.” He said 167 people had been detained and 132 officers injured over five days. The Health Ministry said nine protesters and four officers needed treatment on Saturday. Seven police officers were removed from duty while it is checked whether they exceeded their powers.
Thousands of young people gathered at the Education Ministry, blocking streets with burning cars and rubbish bins. Students threw a burning suitcase into the ministry courtyard, explaining that they do not want to leave the country for a better life. At night, special unit officers carrying long-barreled weapons appeared on the streets.
How it all began
The current wave of unrest began on Oct. 13 outside the Education Ministry. Students are protesting exorbitant tuition, poor university conditions, unemployment and corruption. According to Afrim Krasniqi of the Institute for Political Studies in Tirana, students had protested peacefully for nearly three months before the escalation but were not heard. The protests merged with the “Flamingo” movement’s campaign against a luxury resort in the south linked to the company of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Protesters set fire to the prime minister’s office, ministry buildings and bank branches, and broke into the Economy Ministry building and wrecked it.
Several government buildings were already badly damaged on the second night of unrest.
One video shows a lone riot officer standing motionless with his hands behind his back beside a burning road, under bursts of flares.
In another, a protester raises his arms in front of a building consumed by flames.
The unrest spread beyond the capital: in Durrës a post office was damaged and roads were blocked with burning barricades, and protests were held at universities in Elbasan and Shkodër.
The European wave
The events in Albania fit into a wave of student protests across Europe. In France, actions by high school students demanding more teachers and decent schools merged with cost-of-living protests on Saturday; according to France’s education ministry, nearly 10% of teaching hours in state high schools go unstaffed. In Italy, protesters threw flares at the Education Ministry, and police in Turin dispersed students who had occupied schools with water cannon and tear gas. Clashes also took place in Milan and Brussels on Saturday.
In December 2018, student protests over education costs already forced Rama to dismiss eight ministers. Albanian journalist Arlis Alikaj calls the current events “the boiling point of months of suppressed grievances.”
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