Clashes in central Tirana
Riot police and protesters clashed in central Tirana on Saturday, 24 October, in the fiercest confrontations in several days. According to ANSA, several hundred demonstrators gathered in Skanderbeg Square, where firecrackers and Molotov cocktails were thrown at officers, who answered with water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets. The Ministry of the Environment was set on fire, and an attempt to storm the municipal headquarters failed. Crowds then moved into side streets and set alight rubbish bins that had been placed across roads to block police vehicles. Reuters, as cited by Polsat News, reported that protesters also set fire to the entrance of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Albanian portal Shekulli said the clashes began at 14:30, and AFP reported that police spent more than four hours trying to disperse groups of protesters.
Two protest streams and their demands
Students and the centre-right opposition, led by Sali Berisha, held separate protests on the day, and demonstrators are demanding that Prime Minister Edi Rama resign. The movement has been running for more than 130 days, according to ProTV, and it gained fresh momentum in mid-October when pupils and students joined. Al Jazeera reports that the protests started in May, after news of a luxury hotel project linked to the family of US President Donald Trump. ProTV says the project was associated with Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and was planned inside a protected natural area. Protesters want the project cancelled and the laws on protected areas and strategic investments revised, while also targeting corruption, school conditions and the lack of prospects for young people. They blame the entire political class for the crisis, and some carry signs against Berisha.
Rosela Mira, a first-year female medicine student, told AFP:
We are here for one reason: we want to stay in our country and not have to dream of living elsewhere. I want to have a future here.
- News emerges of a luxury hotel project linked to Trump's family, and intermittent protests follow
- Protest wave grows as pupils and students join over school conditions and cost of living
- Clashes begin in Tirana, according to Shekulli
- Tear gas cloud over Skanderbeg Square and burning bins across downtown, as AFP reporters observed
Injuries and arrests
Authorities said on Saturday that more than 300 protesters and police have been injured since mid-October, and dozens of demonstrators have been detained. The Ministry of Health separately reported light injuries to two journalists, one police officer, four protesters and one elected official. Water cannon vehicles have been fitted with high-resolution cameras intended to identify people responsible for violence, Shekulli reported. Polsat News reported that a journalist was sprayed with tear gas during the clashes.
Government response
Prime Minister Edi Rama called for calm and described the violence as intolerable, arguing that the unrest was part of a hybrid war fed from outside the country. He blamed foreign actors and accused Russia and Iran of driving online misinformation, while also calling for dialogue. On Saturday red cushions were laid outside government headquarters as a symbol of talks, but protesters later set them on fire. Authorities boosted security around the capital and checked cars heading into the city. The main opposition Democratic Party is trying to draw students to its side, yet students and opponents of the project reject any political involvement in the movement.