Albania: tear gas and water cannon in Tirana – protesters burn Rama’s pillows
Thousands protested against the government in Tirana on Saturday. Opposition supporters burned pillows Prime Minister Rama had set out as an invitation to dialogue. Police fired tear gas.
Symbolic image · Photo: Pudelek / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Protesters and police clashed again on Saturday in Tirana, the Albanian capital. Thousands of people protested against the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama; police, who authorities said deployed 2,500 officers, used tear gas and water cannon. According to AP, some demonstrators set government buildings on fire.
Supporters of the opposition Democratic Party gathered for about 90 minutes outside the prime minister’s office and set fire to pillows that Rama had placed there as a “symbolic invitation to dialogue” with students. The crowd then moved on to the Education Ministry, where a separate student demonstration was under way. The students are demanding lower tuition fees, more state investment in education and an end to corruption; some are calling for Rama’s resignation. The demonstrators distance themselves from the parties – chants were directed both at Rama and at opposition leader Sali Berisha.
More than 300 demonstrators and police officers have been injured in the clashes so far, according to authorities. Rama blamed “foreign actors” for the violence, accused Russia and Iran of disinformation and announced a “long and persistent” response against those behind the violence. The protests began in May with opposition to a luxury hotel project linked to the family of U.S. President Donald Trump.