Tirana faced a third straight day of unrest on Thursday as thousands of student-led demonstrators clashed with riot police in Albania’s capital, setting fires in the city centre and demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama over education costs, alleged corruption and a contested coastal resort project.
Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds who threw stones and firecrackers, according to coverage of the unrest. Fires broke out at the education ministry building and at bank branches, while shops, buses and traffic lights were damaged and parliament cancelled its session as violence flared nearby.
From campus demands to calls for resignation
The demonstrations began over university conditions, rising education costs and bleak graduate job prospects, but have broadened into the most serious challenge to Rama’s government since he won a fourth term in 2025. Student organisers say they want better conditions and financial support; the wider movement has joined a campaign opposing a luxury resort planned for Albania’s southern coast, which protesters say symbolises unchecked outside influence.
“This is a revolution. We are tired of peaceful protests. We will not stop until Rama resigns,” one student, Lora, told reporters as the clashes continued.
Rama holds firm as EU hopes loom
Rama on Thursday rejected calls to step down, saying in a statement that his responsibility was to listen to legitimate concerns and keep the country on course toward European Union membership, and that resigning would betray voters’ mandate. He said he was ready to discuss the rising cost of education but condemned attacks on institutions, public property and public safety. He also argued that Albania is tackling corruption more seriously than ever before, an assessment he said Brussels had recently reaffirmed.
The unrest caps a summer of largely peaceful demonstrations and comes amid a volatile week across the wider region, from glide-bomb strikes in Ukraine to US warnings over Chinese maritime actions near Taiwan.
