Dozens of people detained after government building and two banks set on fire as tens of thousands march over education costs and corruption
Tens of thousands of students have taken to the streets of Tirana, the Albanian capital, setting alight a government building and two banks and hurling stones at police during a protest over rising education costs and corruption.
Police responded with water cannon and teargas to disperse protesters who started a fire at the ministry of education building, overturned bins and smashed the fronts of local businesses. A branch of Raiffeisen Bank near the education ministry also caught fire.
Say what you will about France’s high schools, they still produce world-class slogan writers. Here’s a brief selection spotted during three weeks of blockades and marches over chronic teacher shortages, overcrowded classes and crumbling buildings:
“Pas d’avenir, pas de calme” (No future, no calm). “Diplômés aujourd’hui, précaires demain” (Graduates today, insecure tomorrow). “Vous détruisez notre futur, on bloque votre présent” (You destroy our future, we block your present).
Police used tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators who tore down the barriers surrounding the Education Ministry.
On Wednesday, student protests against the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama entered a second day of violence, with riots and Molotov cocktails thrown at the Education Ministry.
Police used tear gas and water cannons against around 1,000 demonstrators who tore down the barriers surrounding the ministry building, according to footage broadcast live by local television station A2.
The demonstrators responded with stones and fireworks and set fire to a guard post, while police made several arrests. Dozens of hooded young people also smashed the windows of a bank in downtown Tirana and tried to pry up paving stones.
The unrest took place as students marched through Tirana to denounce deteriorating facilities, the cost of education, the shortage of financial aid and the lack of job opportunities after graduation. Universities in Elbasan and Shkodër suspended classes in solidarity with the protests.
On Tuesday, clashes lasted more than eight hours, resulting in 40 arrests and several injuries that required hospital treatment at the capital’s trauma hospital.
Groups of demonstrators looted financial offices and burned their furniture in the street. Hours later, that night, some protesters broke into Tirana City Hall.
Students have become the most active sector of the “Flamingos Revolution,” which began in May to protect a wetland in the south of the country from a luxury tourism project linked to Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The mobilization has since expanded into a movement against Prime Minister Edi Rama and corruption, although the protesters also oppose the conservative opposition Democratic Party.
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