Albanien: Gewalt und Chaos bei Protesten in Tirana

In Albania, violence and chaos erupted during protests against issues in higher education and the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama. Demonstrators in the capital Tirana hurled stones at government buildings and police, as reported by the state news agency ATA. The situation escalated when protesters set the Environment Ministry ablaze, with chaotic scenes captured on television broadcasts and social media.

The protest, primarily organized by students, began on Saturday outside the Education Ministry and spread to other ministries and parts of the city. Demonstrators also targeted the office of Prime Minister Rama, who has been in power since 2013. On a central square, several young protesters, according to ATA, destroyed a piece of art to gather stones and hard objects to throw at the authorities.

Trash cans were set on fire, traffic disrupted, and fireworks and Molotov cocktails, as well as pyrotechnics, were launched by protesters, as reported by the private TV channel Klan. Police responded with water cannons, tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds. There were injuries on both sides, and officials allegedly attacked the camera team of Klan News.

Prime Minister Rama stated on Saturday that the government would outline its response to citizens' concerns within hours or days, warning that those who fomented or committed violence would face criminal and financial consequences. Long-standing discontent with Prime Minister Rama and the entire political leadership has been on the rise, heightened when it was revealed that the government supported a real estate project in a nature reserve along Albania's Adriatic coast, linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.

Daily protests, known as the "Flamingo Revolution," due to flamingos living in the nature reserve, have been ongoing for months, with many Albanians perceiving their political elites as greedy, corrupt, and incompetent.