Student Protests Spread Nationwide as Parliament Erupts into Brawl
Political tensions peaked in Albania on Thursday as lawmakers became involved in a physical clash inside parliament. The chaotic scenes erupted when opposition members tried to disrupt proceedings, while the assembly pressed ahead with a vote on legislation amid the country’s crisis.
According to Euronews, the disorder broke out after parliamentary leaders rejected the opposition’s demand for a debate on student demonstrations that had paralysed the capital, Tirana, for ten consecutive days. Opposition lawmakers aggressively blocked the parliament’s main podium while holding photographs of students injured by police in earlier protests.
For nearly two weeks, demonstrators have clashed with police in the city centre. Protesters threw stones, flares, Molotov cocktails and fireworks at security barricades, prompting officers to respond with batons, water cannon and tear gas. On Thursday, a large crowd of students had also surrounded the entrances to parliament as the protests entered their tenth day.
Secondary-school and university students initially took to the streets to demand lower tuition fees, greater state investment in education and an end to entrenched corruption in the education system. The movement has since expanded into large-scale anti-government demonstrations, with protesters openly calling for the resignation of Albania’s Socialist Prime Minister, Edi Rama.
Rama has firmly rejected calls to step down and vowed to continue fighting. After meeting teachers and school representatives on Tuesday, the prime minister argued that legitimate public grievances were being exploited by people deliberately inciting violence.
“A wave of stone-throwing, attempts to overthrow the government and replace those in power through violent coercion — something that will never be allowed to happen, in any form or for any reason,” he said.
The student protests follow months of demonstrations organised by the Flamingo movement. The group emerged in fierce opposition to a luxury tourism development on Albania’s southern Adriatic coast, linked to an investment firm owned by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
The critical situation in Albania adds to a growing list of instability across Europe. Governments across the continent are facing mounting street pressure over surging fuel prices, deteriorating public services, underfunded schools and a deepening housing crisis.
France and Italy have seen similar waves of protest, while tent camps have begun appearing in Spain and Portugal amid anger over unaffordable housing. Broader demonstrations are also planned in Greece this week.