In brief
For five consecutive days, students and university students have been confronting riot police in the Albanian capital. Protesters have hurled rocks, petrol bombs and fireworks at police, while police have used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets. The demonstrations began over corruption claims against Prime Minister Edi Rama and have spread beyond the education ministry to the prime minister’s office. Young activists, as young as seventeen, have voiced their grievances, calling for a caretaker government and new elections. The government’s response amid growing unrest threatens its established political dominance.
For five days in a row, streets of Tirana have become a battleground as masked students and university activists throw rocks, petrol bombs and fireworks at riot police. At the centre of the surge is the education ministry, the latest target of the students’ anger.
Police forces have answered with water cannons, tear gas and, for the first time, rubber bullets. The city’s main boulevard turned into an arena where cobblestones and fireworks ricocheted back at the police vans.
The protests originated in the summer over allegations that Prime Minister Edi Rama’s administration is rife with corruption. Student slogans calling for the leader’s resignation have grown louder.
Among the protesters are teenagers and a 19‑year‑old medical student who funds his studies by working as an electrician. He says the movement is a fight for the future, a response to a government that refuses to listen.
Rama, who has ruled for 13 years, has openly praised the economic gains made under his rule, but has also blamed outside forces for fueling the unrest and for keeping Albania from achieving the European Union membership he promises by 2030.
In the midst of rising tensions, investigations by a special prosecutor are targeting figures close to the prime minister, further straining the administration’s stability.
The images below illustrate the intensity of the day: a protester cleaning tear gas from a fellow demonstrator’s eyes, rubble littering the streets, and a fireworks display that lights the night sky during a clash on the main boulevard.
