Albanian riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at hundreds of student protesters demonstrating over education and social conditions in the capital, Tirana, on Tuesday. According to a police statement, at least 23 people were arrested, while six police officers and one female journalist were injured.
Protesters threw bricks and concrete blocks at the Education Ministry and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama. Police said they had called on the demonstrators to stop attacking the ministry building, but some continued to assault officers with petrol bombs, firecrackers, stones and other hard objects.
According to the student organizers, the protest was aimed at conditions at universities, the high cost of higher education, the lack of financial support and job prospects after graduation. Demonstrators voiced their discontent with inequality and the government's economic policies.
"What Albania needs is a revolution, a change, a complete overthrow of the system because it cannot go on like this," protester Luljeta Kola said, highlighting the deep social gap between the country's rich and poor.
Albanian Deputy Prime Minister Albana Kociu said on Facebook: "Violence has not been, is not and will never be the solution. Throwing stones, attacking institutions and state police, and senselessly damaging public property, is not how young people should express themselves."
The Albanian capital has seen a series of anti-government protests since May, sparked by a luxury resort project linked to the family of U.S. President Donald Trump. The project has fueled an outpouring of anger over alleged corruption and a lack of transparency, with protesters demanding Rama's resignation.
Students have also repeated those demands, but told local media that Tuesday's march was also meant to protest university conditions, tuition fees and the lack of support for young people. "Problems are not solved by pretending they don't exist. Students have questions, demands and plenty of reasons to be heard," one of the organizers wrote on Instagram.
