Five days of clashes rock Tirana as students join a wider movement demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation.
Police in Albania have fired rubber bullets at antigovernment protesters in the capital, Tirana, as violent clashes intensify over demands for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign.
The clashes continued on Saturday for a fifth consecutive day after high school and university students joined a broader movement against Rama, whose governing centre-left Socialist Party has held power since 2013.
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The unrest has brought growing anger over education, unemployment and alleged corruption into a wider confrontation with the government.
Protesters threw stones, petrol bombs and fireworks at police near Rama’s office and elsewhere in central Tirana.
Some set cars and rubbish bins alight, creating burning barricades across streets.
Police responded with tear gas, water cannon and baton charges as demonstrators pushed against security lines.
The AFP news agency reported that officers used rubber bullets for the first time since the demonstrations began.
National police chief Skender Hita confirmed their use at a news conference on Saturday, saying they had been deployed “in a limited manner”.
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said nine protesters and four police officers received medical treatment on Saturday.
Hita said 167 people had been arrested over five days of unrest, while 132 officers had been injured.
Seven police officers were also suspended pending investigations into allegations that they had exceeded their authority.
Rama, who is serving his fourth term and has refused to resign, visited businesses damaged during the unrest on Saturday. He promised to listen to students and protect their right to demonstrate, while warning against further destruction.
He also accused his conservative political opponents of encouraging the violence.
Growing discontent
The students have complained about expensive university fees, poor educational facilities and limited employment opportunities, alongside allegations of government corruption.
At the start of Saturday’s demonstration, protesters set fire to a suitcase and threw it into the Ministry of Education’s courtyard. AFP reported that the gesture symbolised their determination not to leave Albania in search of better opportunities.
“We are demanding our rights, our future and a better country,” journalism student Sinan Billa told AFP.
The student demonstrations have added to months of antigovernment rallies organised by the Flamingo movement, which began as a campaign against a luxury tourism development on Albania’s southern coast.
The project is linked to an investment company founded by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
The movement has since widened its demands to include Rama’s resignation amid allegations of corruption against his government.
The unrest has also spread beyond Tirana. Local media reported that protesters in the coastal city of Durres damaged a post office and blocked roads with burning barricades, extending the confrontations beyond the capital.