Seventh day of clashes between protesters and police in Albania: students demand resignation of PM Rama

The key facts

For the seventh consecutive day, protesters, mostly students, have clashed with police in Tirana; a police station and government buildings were attacked.
Official figures: 295 injured before Monday, including 186 police officers.
Rama calls the protests a 'coordinated attack' and rejects negotiations; activists demand his resignation and a technocratic government for a year.

Seventh day of unrest in Tirana

In Albania on Monday, clashes between protesters and police continued for the seventh consecutive day. The bulk of the demonstrators are schoolchildren and students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama. According to official figures, 295 people were injured before Monday's events, including 186 police officers. During the protests, a police station and government buildings in Tirana were attacked. BBC correspondents cite demands to improve conditions at universities, discontent with corruption, and calls for Rama's resignation as the driving forces behind the protests.

The Prime Minister's reaction

Rama, who showed the police leadership a stone thrown at officers on Sunday, declared: 'The moment the state negotiates with this, the state has fallen.' He also claimed that among the protesters there are 'young men and women radicalised by dark forces in Europe and the USA,' and that 'Albania has become one of the targets of a well-coordinated attack.' Rama has been in power for 13 years and has dominated Albanian politics since the beginning of the century; he promised the country's accession to the EU by 2030, claiming that only he can ensure it. Over the weekend, he rhetorically asked what would happen if he resigned.

The scene on the streets

A BBC correspondent in Rinia Park watched people prying up paving stones to use against the police. A column of police vehicles led by an armoured truck used water cannons and tear gas; police units chased the predominantly student crowd; protesters took shelter in cafes, where even the waiters' eyes watered from the gas. Volunteers in yellow high-visibility vests helped those affected by the tear gas. The correspondent also saw a police officer fire pepper spray into a young man's face at close range.

Criticism of police actions

Human rights lawyer Gentian Sejrani, providing legal support to more than 100 detainees, described the police actions as 'often chaotic and stupid.' According to him, the police rarely present evidence in court, and among his clients is a person detained on the way to a bus stop who had nothing to do with the protests. 'Those who actually throw objects at the police are rarely caught, because they run faster than anyone,' he said.

Voices of the protesters

Twenty-seven-year-old activist Sidorela Vatnikaj, a master's student with eight years of experience participating in anti-government protests, described a typical day in the leaderless movement: coordinating groups, finding lawyers, first-aid kits and equipment, checking whether friends and relatives are safe, and constantly moving between protest sites. She does not accept violence against the authorities, but blames the police for starting it. 'When I see people throwing stones at the police, I understand their anger. I do not condemn them,' she said, adding that about a million people have left the country over the past decade. Asked what should happen if Rama resigns, she replied: 'We need a technocratic government for one year to prepare the country for real democratic elections.' She accuses Rama of falsifying past elections and of ties with wealthy foreign investors and organised crime. According to her, Albanian youth are inspired by the protests of their Generation Z peers around the world.