Albanian students clash with police after fire at education ministry

Albanian riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at students outside the Education Ministry in Tirana on Wednesday, as protests over university conditions entered a third day, hours after demonstrators broke into the building and set a fire inside.

Hundreds of students gathered at the ministry and threw rocks at the building. Some tore down nearby fencing and used it to block the street. Police said 16 people had been arrested over the violence on Tuesday night, when protesters forced their way in, and at least 16 more were reported held after Wednesday’s clashes.

The students want better conditions in universities and the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama. Several told local media they were also angry about tuition fees and the lack of support for young people.

Deputy Prime Minister Albana Kociu condemned the violence. “Protesting is a legitimate right, but it cannot be used as an excuse for violence,” she wrote on Facebook, urging students and “every honest citizen” to keep away from vandalism.

The protests follow four months of daily rallies on Tirana’s main streets, a movement that has come to be called the “Flamingo Revolution”. It began as opposition to a resort project in a protected area of southern Albania that is linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, and fed anger over alleged corruption and secrecy.

Besar Likmeta, an editor at the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania, said the movement had since widened into demands for better opportunities and action on corruption, driven by a lack of prospects for young people and a growing sense among them that they have been shut out.