Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama told journalists he had no plans to vacate his post, as clashes between protesters and police in the capital entered their third consecutive day. Teargas and water cannon were deployed against demonstrators moving along several of Tirana's main roads, with the unrest extending to other cities across the country.
Demonstrators have called for Rama's removal alongside expanded state support for students, citing ageing campus facilities and the financial burden of tuition fees. Rama maintained that changes in leadership are a matter for elections rather than street protests.
Responding in writing to a news outlet, Rama stated that the previous year had brought an election rather than a revolution, and that his role centred on hearing out genuine grievances and sustaining Albania's progress. Rama expressed willingness to discuss the rising cost of education, yet drew a distinction between that dialogue and what he characterised as assaults on public institutions, destruction of property, and threats to public order — none of which, in his view, bore any relationship to the grievances students had put forward.
Those remarks followed two days of clashes between police and protesters in Tirana, during which demonstrators entered several government buildings, leaving at least one of them ablaze. Authorities reported that 51 members of the force sustained injuries when gatherings turned confrontational on Wednesday, with 65 individuals taken into custody on grounds that they had targeted officers, public institutions, and both government and privately held property.
Tirana's main public hospital recorded seven people from the demonstration who came in for treatment of injuries, while police released no breakdown of how many participants were hurt overall.
The street protests, which drew large numbers of people into public spaces, have represented the most demanding political challenge Rama has encountered since winning a fourth consecutive term in office the previous year. The unrest follows a period of mostly peaceful demonstrations against a coastal development scheme in southern Albania — a resort venture linked to Jared Kushner, who is Donald Trump's son-in-law, and one that has attracted legal scrutiny.
Speaking to reporters, Rama maintained that the government was confronting corruption directly, pointed to recent EU assessments as evidence of progress, and suggested that certain domestic and outside interests may be working against the country's path toward EU membership.
The EU delegation in Tirana renewed its appeal for calm, formally condemning the outbreak of violence at the protest and the damage inflicted on both public and private property, while calling on those taking part to show restraint and step back from further acts of aggression. The delegation's statement put forward the position that democratic systems ought to be free from acts of violence.
Of the Balkan nations pursuing EU membership, Albania and Montenegro have advanced furthest in the accession process, with both countries targeting entry by 2028.
