Albania | Students demonstrate for their future

A demonstrator stands on a burning garbage container in the center of Tirana. Photo: AFP/Adnan Beci It began with the so-called Flamingo protests, when tens of thousands filled the center of the capital Tirana at the end of May and protested against the sell-out of Albania. The trigger was an incident in Zvërnec on the Narta Lagoon, where residents were forcibly taken away by private security forces. Almost overnight, an area in the middle of the nature reserve was fenced off, a habitat for rare animal and bird species, including flamingos. That's exactly where Ivanka Trump, daughter of the US President, and her husband Jared Kushner want to build an elite resort. People didn't just want to accept that.

Since then, there has been no calm, despite the political summer break. Quite the opposite: the country has been in turmoil again for just over a week. On Sunday, incendiary devices were thrown at a police station and at the entrance to the Ministry of Education. The protests were initially directed against poor study conditions and high tuition fees, but now there are calls for Prime Minister Rama's government to resign.

The movement brings together many social issues: lack of prospects and emigration of young people, a depleted and increasingly privatized education system, an underfunded health system and rising living costs.

The 100th day of protests was celebrated in September. You could feel that the intensity wasn't quite as high as it was at the beginning. But the end of the parliamentary summer break was an opportunity for the protesters not only to organize evening rallies, but also to disrupt everyday political operations. Their demands: Get rid of the law on strategic investments and: Get rid of the administrative reform that has not yet been completed, which primarily benefits the large parties in new elections and deprives many municipalities of financial resources.

MPs used to drive to parliament in black Mercedes limousines and no one could approach them. Since the Flamingo protests, you have to realize that it is very difficult to be a parliamentarian in Albania because people suddenly want something from you. And when a parliamentarian ignores protests for four months, eggs and tomatoes fly.

While the Flamingo protests were largely peaceful, police forces used tear gas, pepper spray and violence during the protests in front of Parliament. This reinforced the Flamingo protests through explicit demands from students, which are not only directed against poor conditions at universities, but also against a political system that forces young people to emigrate: dilapidated dormitories, high tuition fees, poor quality of teaching and a lack of future prospects are the focus of criticism.

Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced tough measures in response to the ongoing student protests.

Even if students had already been part of the Flamingo protests, they called for their own protests after the start of the semester on October 13th: on that day, classes were boycotted at several universities and high schools - as a sign of resistance against the government. The students of the medical faculty marched to the Ministry of Education. They marched through the capital with shouts of “Rama to prison,” “Berisha to prison,” and “The future belongs to us.” Other students joined us along the way, including from the Polytechnic University of Tirana, the university's Faculty of Economics, the University of Law and the Faculty of History and Philology.

Classes were also boycotted in many high schools in Tirana. Students from at least eight cities protested within two days. Their main demand: The government must resign. The movement combines educational, social and power issues, from rising costs of living to social inequality to the massive exodus of young people. The message is clear: the young generation no longer wants to remain silent. It sees itself as the future of the country and claims to have a say in this future.

According to an open letter to the state police, at least 32 incidents of suspected police violence were documented in Tirana during the student protests last week (October 13th to 17th). One of the most serious cases involves a 21-year-old who was taken to the trauma center with skull and spinal fractures after being hit by a police officer near the Ministry of Education. His family also accuses the police of keeping him at the station for around three hours without seeking medical help and said they would prosecute the case.

The letter documents further violent interventions, including massive attacks against minors and journalists. Police officers in plain clothes without identification who forcefully take young people away are particularly criticized. After the brutal arrest of a protester who was dragged across the street and taken away by at least six plainclothes officers in a white van, photos and license plates of plainclothes officers are now circulating on social media.

The signatories demand that repeated and systematic police violence should not be treated solely with individual measures. They demand independent investigations and institutional accountability. The Ombudsman also confirmed serious allegations: of the 214 people arrested, 26 showed signs of violence or made allegations of ill-treatment, according to the protocols. In addition, minors were interviewed without parents, guardians or psychological support.

At the same time, 19 civil society organizations are calling for an end to the violence, immediate medical care for the injured, special protection for minors and respect for the rights of those arrested. They emphasize that peaceful protest is a fundamental right and that any police operation must be lawful, necessary and proportionate. Violence by individual individuals does not justify indiscriminate interventions against peaceful protesters.

In an interview, a former police director asked his former colleagues to take off their helmets. A police force acting on behalf of a government under which over 170 former ministers, deputies, state secretaries and other high-ranking officials have already been imprisoned has no legal basis for taking such action against protesters. He himself emphasized that he had resigned from his job when he was tasked with putting down the miners' union protests.

Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced tough measures in response to the ongoing student protests. Anyone who attacks police officers should lose scholarships and free studies; Families of minors are expected to pay compensation, and protesters who do not clearly distance themselves from violent perpetrators also face financial consequences. At the same time, Rama promised every police officer on duty a bonus of 2,500 euros. No statement about the possibility that mistakes might have happened. No sentence about a possible resignation.

Rama also portrayed the protests as part of a larger plan against Albania. He claimed without evidence that Russia and Iran had fomented discontent through thousands of fake social media profiles - first in the protests against tourism projects in Zvërnec and Sazan, and now also in the current rallies. Antifa is also to blame, he says. Rama did not provide any evidence of involvement of Russian or Iranian services. The discrediting of Antifa fits very well into the image of an authoritarian state that despises civil society and democracy.

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