Albania’s PM refuses to quit with protests against university conditions in sixth day

Police deployed water cannons and tear gas on Sunday as angry anti‑government demonstrations reached their sixth day, while Prime Minister Edi Rama denied calls for his resignation.

Violent protests have spread through Tirana since Tuesday, with demonstrators demanding improved university conditions, lower tuition fees and greater transparency in public institutions.

Hundreds of protesters converged at midday outside the Education Ministry, shouting “Rama, resign” as police maintained a tense stance.

When police tried to break up the gatherings, the demonstrations splintered across downtown and reignited into multi‑hour violent skirmishes.

Roughly, protesters ignited trash cans on the street, shattered windows—including at the ruling Socialist Party headquarters—and set fire to a police station along with the interiors ministry building.

Clashes erupted along the central boulevard and market square, where demonstrators hurled rocks, Molotov cocktails and pyrotechnics while authorities answered with rubber bullets and tear‑gas fragments, per an AFP reporter.

Ambulances rushed to the scene, evacuating the wounded among the participants.

The Health Ministry confirmed that sixteen police officers sustained injuries, fourteen of whom were hurt after the assault on the police station.

Police Public Security spokesperson Albert Nushi reported on Sunday evening that a Tirana police station was targeted by Molotov cocktails and fireworks, putting officers and detainees at risk.

“An attack on a police station is not a protest. Violence towards law‑enforcement personnel, damage to public buildings and threats to human life cannot be tolerated,” he warned.

He urged participants to distance themselves from disguised agitators and to organize peacefully.

Buildings on fire

Writer and activist Lura Elezi, 38, told AFP she supports a more equitable society grounded in the rule of law and the fight against corruption.

She expressed pride in Albania while condemning a government she described as disrespectful and out of touch, insisting that every citizen shares the burden of leading and protecting their homeland without self‑destruction.

Saturday witnessed the most severe confrontations as demonstrators hurled stones, Molotov cocktails, metal pieces and pyrotechnics at police forces, later setting fire to vehicles and litter containers to serve as makeshift barriers against advancing troops.

Among the collateral damage were multiple structures, including a courthouse, several banks and postal offices, which were either engulfed in flames or heavily damaged.

A health‑ministry report released Sunday recorded sixty‑five injuries overall, comprising thirty‑seven police personnel and twelve hospitalizedpatients.

Since Tuesday, cumulative casualties have risen to two hundred seventy‑two individuals, fifteen‑nine of whom belong to the police ranks.

On Saturday evening, the United States Embassy in Tirana issued an appeal calling for restraint and calm throughout all communities.

The European Commission condemned the use of force in Tirana and other metropolitan areas, emphasizing that any countermeasure must be proportionate.

The communiqué stressed that grievances ahead of an EU accession bid must be resolved through constructive, non‑violent dialogue.

This wave of unrest builds upon months of opposition in neighboring countries, first ignited by a disruptive resort project within a protected ecological zone tied to a member of the American political family.

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