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Albania protests turn violent as demonstrators demand PM's resignation; buildings torched, clashes erupt
Over several hours, police deployed water cannon and tear gas while demonstrators targeted government buildings and shops in Tirana
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Demonstrators and riot police clashed in Albania's capital on Wednesday in a second straight day of violence triggered by student protests calling for better university conditions and Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation.
Over several hours, police deployed water cannon and tear gas while demonstrators targeted government buildings and shops in Tirana, smashing windows and on at least one occasion setting a building on fire.
Riot police have routinely tried to push back hundreds of protesters, including with tear gas, but the crowd showed little sign of dispersing.
Demonstrators hurled paving stones and petrol bombs, set fire to bins that sent plumes of black smoke into the air, and used street fencing to erect barricades.
Protesters also attacked the finance ministry, using fencing to smash windows and break down doors, with some briefly entering the building.
Pushed back by police, protesters moved towards the prime minister's office, where they threw stones at the building and officers, who responded with water cannon.
Earlier, AFP saw two people climb over the education ministry wall and throw flares into the building. Thick black smoke poured from a window shortly afterwards.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze.
Nearby, a group of men smashed the windows of a bank branch before setting fire to documents inside. Police intervened within minutes to extinguish the flames.
In another incident, flames engulfed what appeared to be an abandoned building as demonstrators smashed nearby shop windows.
Police had appealed for calm, but tensions remained high as darkness approached.
Molotov cocktails
According to the health ministry, six police officers, eight protesters, three journalists and two passers-by received medical attention on Tuesday, including for exposure to tear gas, while 16 people were arrested.
During the night, people also burst through the doors of the municipality building, lighting a fire inside and damaging several other buildings, police said.
Demonstrators originally gathered early on Tuesday to demand Rama's resignation and more support for students in the country, but the rally comes after months of anti-government demonstrations in the capital.
Police said officers had "faced constant violence" on Tuesday and were "pelted with stones, blunt objects, firecrackers and Molotov cocktails by groups of masked demonstrators".
EU urges ‘de-escalation’
Meanwhile, the European Union, which the Balkan nation aspires to join, voiced concern over what it called the "violent escalation at the protest in Tirana".
"We take note of the allegations of excessive violence by the police against protestors and journalists," a statement by the EU delegation in Tirana said.
Calling for a prompt investigation, the delegation encouraged "all sides to de-escalate the tension".
For more than four months, anti-government protests have routinely drawn crowds in the tens of thousands.
Originally sparked by a luxury tourism project linked to US President Donald Trump's family in the country's south, the demonstrations have occasionally flared into violence amid ongoing calls for Rama's resignation.
Since late May, protesters have decried plans for a hotel in a coastal nature reserve linked to Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.
The project has fuelled anger over alleged corruption and a lack of transparency.
Students have echoed those demands but told Albanian media that Tuesday's protest was against university conditions, tuition fees and a lack of support for young people.
