Protesters launch fireworks on sixth night of protests in Albania

A protester in Tirana predicted on Sunday (October 18) that matters would only worsen as violent demonstrations in the Albanian capital showed no signs of easing on their sixth day.

    “Not only the students, but from also us, I am no longer a student but I am in the work market, I can feel it every day –  I think they’re not relenting. So I think it’s going to get even worse – the riots and the civil disobedience,” Noel Xhoxhi told Reuters in an interview. 

    Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Sunday rejected calls to step down and said street protests were a threat not to his government but to Albania’s hopes of joining the European Union.

    Student-led demonstrations, fuelled by anger over perceived government corruption, a lack of jobs and poor education standards, have engulfed central Tirana and spread to other cities in the past week.

    Demonstrators demanding Rama’s resignation have set fire to government buildings as well as banks, smashed shop windows and pulled up pavement stones to throw at police.

    Violence erupted again on Sunday when thousands gathered outside the Education Ministry and hurled rocks at riot police who responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.

    The unrest, which followed months of largely peaceful protests over the summer against a luxury coastal development backed by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, poses the biggest challenge yet to Rama, who has governed since 2013 and last year won a fourth term in office.

(Camera and editing: Fatos Bytyci; Production: Dina Selim; Writing:  Angeliki Koutantou)