Thousands Rally in Tirana as Clashes Leave More Than 300 Injured

Thousands of people attended an antigovernment rally in Tirana, Albania, on October 24, as clashes with police left more than 300 protesters and police injured, authorities said. Police fired tear gas and used water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Several government buildings were attacked, and dozens of demonstrators were arrested.

The rally is part of a wave of protests that began in mid-October over poor conditions in schools and the rising cost of living. Demonstrators are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, a Socialist. Protests have also flared intermittently since May, after news of a luxury hotel project linked to the family of U.S. President Donald Trump.

University professors, artists and opposition parties announced support for or attendance at the rally, and opposition supporters and students mobilised in the capital. Earlier in the month, student protesters hurled bricks and concrete blocks at the Education Ministry in Tirana, and police responded with tear gas. On October 24, protesters threw stones and rolled burning bins at the ministry building. Outside government headquarters, protesters set fire to red cushions that had been laid there as a symbolic gesture for dialogue.

The violence has drawn a response from the government. Rama blamed foreign actors for the unrest and accused Russia and Iran of driving online misinformation. On October 18, he said that mass protests posed a threat to Albania's bid for European Union membership, not to the government itself.

Earlier clashes had also involved damage to property. On October 18, Reuters reported that demonstrators demanding Rama's resignation had set fire to government buildings and banks, smashed shop windows and pulled up paving. Police had fired rubber bullets at protesters in Tirana on October 17, and on October 20 they again used tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds.