Lawmakers scuffle in Albania parliament as student protests enter a tenth day
Lawmakers from Albania’s opposition and ruling party clashed in parliament on Thursday. The clashes broke out after parliamentary leadership rejected opposition demands to debate ten days of student demonstrations that have gripped the capital Tirana.
Opposition members of parliament attempted to disrupt the session, while the assembly continued voting on legislation amid the tensions.
Opposition MPs held up photographs of students injured by police during previous protests and blocked the parliamentary podium, while the assembly pressed ahead with voting on legislation amid the chaos.
Outside parliament, large crowds of students gathered at the building’s entrances as the protests entered their tenth consecutive day.
Demonstrators have clashed repeatedly with police in the city centre, hurling rocks, flares, firebombs and fireworks. Officers have responded with batons, water cannons and tear gas.
High school and university students are demanding lower tuition fees, greater state investment in education and an end to corruption in the education system. They have since joined a broader anti-government movement calling for the resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Rama has vowed to resist. “A wave of stones, an attempt to overthrow the government and change those in power through the imposition of violence — something that will never be allowed to happen, in any form or for any reason,” he said after meeting teachers and school representatives on Tuesday.
He argued that legitimate grievances were being exploited by those deliberately inciting violence. That government position has put it in direct conflict with the protesters’ demands.
The student protests follow months of demonstrations organised by the Flamingo movement, which emerged in opposition to a major luxury tourism development on Albania’s southern Adriatic coast linked to an investment firm founded by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
Albania is not alone. Across Europe, governments are facing street pressure over rising fuel costs, deteriorating public services, underfunded schools and a deepening housing crisis.
France and Italy have seen similar protests, while tent camps have sprung up in Spain and Portugal over unaffordable housing. Demonstrations were also planned in Greece this week.
All in all, with a scuffle inside parliament and student protests outside, political tensions in Albania are now at their height. No sign of compromise is yet visible between the prime minister’s firm stance and the students’ demands.
