The Popular Struggle Continues in Albania
Featured image: Protesters light a State-owned bank on fire on October 17, Tirana, Albania. Source: Getty
The ongoing popular struggles that grew out of the so-called “Flamingo” movement – the protest movement which for months has struggled against the resort construction project linked to Jared Kushner, son in law of US President Donald Trump – into a struggle for better living conditions and against the precarious state of education in Albania, have continued escalating since our previous report.
Read our previous report here:
Since our last report, clashes between protesters and police have continued to take place in the streets of Tirana, Albania. On October 17, the seventh day of clashes, the entrance to a State-owned bank was lit on fire by protesters.
On October 18, professors and teachers went on strike, joining the protests of the students, called by the Union of University Workers of Albania (SPUSH), the mobilization denounced police violence against students and demanded Rama’s resignation and gathered in a rally outside the Polytechnic University of Tirana. In a response to the rising clashes, Edi Rama placed chairs outside the Parliament building, with inscriptions reading “Dialogue,” hoping to calm the protests. In response, protesters have been seen smashing the chairs on the steps of Parliament.
On October 23, outside the Prime Minister’s office, protesters burned pictures of Edi Rama and Aleksandar Vuçiç, President of Serbia, calling for Edi Rama’s immediate resignation. Medical students from the University Medical Center of Tirana (QSUT) have also taken to the streets of Tirana to voice their discontent with the government.
Videos of kinder-gardeners denouncing the Prime Minister is an example that shows the broad popular support of the demonstrations.
According to reports published on Tuesday, October 20, 192 police officers and 100 protesters have been injured in the clashes. The latest report on the total amount of detained during the ongoing clashes, published after the clashes on October 17, estimates it at around 500 detained, of which 300 had been released at the time of the report.
