Albanian police at the students’ protest in Tirana on October 13, 2026. Photo: BIRN/Fjori Sinoruka.
A student protest outside the Ministry of Education in Tirana erupted into serious clashes with police officers on Tuesday, as protesters threw rocks and eggs at the building and police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse them.
The rally was called as part of the ongoing ‘Flamingo Revolution’ anti-government protests. As well as chanting slogans against Prime Minister Edi Rama’s administration, students voiced demands for better conditions at educational establishments and adequate financial support.
“We come to Tirana to study, and we are forced not to study but to work,” one student said at the protest.
Police announced that 23 protesters were apprehended while six police officers sustained injuries.
“During the rally, a group of participants committed violent acts, damaging the external fence and then, in order to enter the courtyard [of the ministry building], they also damaged the entrance gate. They also continued to break and damage the windows and facade of the building with stone slabs and hard objects,” police said in the statement.
“Police officers called on them to stop the attack on the institution, but they continued to attack the police officers with Molotov cocktails, cans, stones and hard objects,” the statement added.
The Association of Journalists of Albania reported that a journalist sustained physical injuries at the hands of the police and a crew was prevented from reporting from the protest.
“The Association calls on State Police to immediately stop attacks on media and journalists… This is unacceptable and requires urgent addressing from the Police Oversight Agency and prosecution,” the Association of Journalists said in a statement.
Albana Kociu, Albania’s Deputy Prime Minister, posted a video on Facebook showing a protester clashing with a group of police officers during the protest, with a message saying that “violence has not been, is not and will never be the solution”.
The ‘Flamingo Revolution’ demonstrations have seen large numbers of people protesting against planned construction projects in protected environmental areas and demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Rama, accusing his government of institutional corruption and lack of transparency.
The protests in Tirana began on May 31, a day after a member of the public was assaulted by private security guards during a demonstration in Zvernec against the construction of a luxury tourism project in a protected area linked to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.