Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama during the conference held in Luxembourg on October 15, 2024. Courtesy: The European Commission.
After a week of student-led protests that have seen violent clashes in the streets of Tirana, Prime Minister Edi Rama on Tuesday accused some of the young demonstrators of being ideological extremists – stepping up his rhetoric against his opponents.
“There are students who are extremist in their point of views, students who are bound to politically extremist ideologies,” Rama said at a meeting with secondary school principals from Tirana and Education Minister Mirela Kumbaro.
He insisted that “students who exercise their right to protest are not the problem”, but added: “We are not speaking about the exercising the right to protest, we are speaking about the exercising of violence.”
For seven days, young protesters demanding Rama’s resignation have battled police in the streets with Molotov cocktails, stones and other projectiles. Police have responded with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets.
Rama has claimed that the protests were incited by foreign intelligence services, alleging Russia and Iran have been seeking to destabilise Albania. He has also accused the Albanian opposition of being involved. He has not presented any concrete evidence for these claims.
At the weekend, Rama described the protest violence as a threat to Albania’s European integration process and his goal of joining the European Union by 2030.
He has strongly backed the State Police’s response to the protests despite accusations that they have used disproportionate force against protesters. Meeting police chiefs on Monday, he a pledged a 2,500-euro bonus for police officers.
“Anyone present at a violent demonstration is a target for the State Police … You are there because you are on [the protesters’] side,” he warned.
He also warned of financial and administrative penalties for protesters, saying that the families of minors would be held liable for damage caused during the protests, while students would lose their scholarships, financial assistance and access to free education.
Opposition figures said that Rama’s rhetoric may only inflame tensions.
“This was a speech in which open threats against anyone daring to protest, even peacefully, were justified through manipulation and lies aimed at portraying the protests – in the kind of language used by [former Albanian dictator] Enver Hoxha – as the work of foreign and domestic enemies,” writer Fatos Lubonja, a former political prisoner under the communist dictatorship, told BIRN.
Asked by BIRN about the legal basis for the warnings issued to protesters and the risk that the prime minister’s statements could escalate violence, the prime minister’s press office said the remarks should be understood in the context of violent acts, rather than the right to protest.
“Prime Minister Edi Rama’s statement must be read in its full context. It does not refer to the exercise of the right to protest, but to acts of violence against police officers, citizens, and public and private property,” the press office said in a written response.
Regarding the warnings directed at the parents of young people protesting in the streets, the prime minister’s office referred to provisions of the Civil Code, saying that “the prime minister’s warnings about financial and administrative consequences for individuals involved in violence do not imply the imposition of collective sanctions or the bypassing of legal procedures”.