For the fifth day running, demonstrators and riot police fought running battles in central Tirana, according to the BBC’s Nick Thorpe reporting from the Albanian capital. The BBC said masked protesters — many identified as high-school and university students — threw rocks and petrol bombs as police used water cannon and repeated volleys of tear gas around the education ministry. The BBC also cited reports that rubber bullets were used for the first time.
Clashes swell outside the PM’s office
Later, the protests shifted to Prime Minister Edi Rama’s office on the main boulevard, where crowds “swelled to far larger numbers than on previous days,” the BBC reported. Police faced cobblestones and fireworks and responded with barrages of tear gas, some canisters landing deep in the crowd and triggering panic, per the BBC account. Black smoke from a burning vehicle and sirens cut through the afternoon before special police units arrived at dusk.
The BBC said many people were injured on both sides. It reported 80 people had been charged with disorder so far, and that hundreds more had been arrested or are under investigation. The broadcaster described the city center as looking “increasingly like a war zone,” with broken glass and burned debris.
Students say they escalated after months
Many protesters wore gas or face masks while volunteers handed out saline eyewash, the BBC observed. A 19-year-old medical student, identified only as George, told the BBC he had joined from early June and said, “We were peaceful for 135 days. Now we are trying to do like in France… we are trying to make a revolution.” He added, “Our government doesn’t want peace, so we are using violence.”
Klea, 17, said, “All the students are boycotting their university classes and left school to fight for our rights.” She alleged provocateurs were smashing shops and banks to discredit the demonstrations; the BBC presented this as her claim.
Separate graft probes hit Albania’s security elite
Parallel to the unrest, Albania’s special prosecutors — established under EU and US pressure in 2019 — recently arrested national intelligence chief Vlora Hyseni, the BBC reported. She is accused of helping businessman and former official Ergys Agasi — described as a personal friend of Prime Minister Rama — evade justice. Through his lawyer, Agasi denied the allegations and said he had nothing to do with corruption, according to the BBC. Albanian media reported Hyseni told prosecutors she had contacted Agasi to try to recruit him to the intelligence services. Several Albanian outlets have also claimed Agasi acted as an intermediary between Rama and organized criminal groups; the BBC noted those are media claims.
The BBC said Rama has acknowledged he knows Agasi but denies any knowledge of illegal transactions.
Rama’s stance, EU backdrop, and what’s next
The BBC noted that Rama — in power for 13 years — has been viewed favorably by the EU, which Albania seeks to join. In a social media post cited by the BBC, he urged Albanians “not [to] forget that we have achieved extraordinary things” and blamed the protests on the opposition Democratic Party and on “the sinister agenda of foreign actors,” without naming them. Political analyst Lutfi Dervishi told the BBC, “Edi Rama is caught between a rock and a hard place… By concentrating so much power in his own hands, he has made himself the only person the people blame for their grievances.”
Journalist Osman Stafa of News24, who describes himself as an activist for change, called for a “neutral, caretaker government for one year, to organise new elections,” per the BBC. Rama’s Socialist Party holds 83 of 140 parliamentary seats, and the next elections are due in 2029, the BBC reported.
