Lladrovci on Tirana protests: Governments are changed through the ballot box, not violence

Following the recent protests in Tirana, Drenas Mayor Ramiz Lladrovci said that violence and calls to burn things down run counter to Albania’s goal of joining the European Union.

The former Kosovo ambassador to Albania said that bringing the country closer to European values should take priority over any political or social cause. In his statement, he described Albania as being in the final kilometre of the marathon towards EU integration and said no one had the right to block its path.

According to Lladrovci, the project in Zvërnec, students’ conditions and demands for the prime minister’s resignation should be addressed through dialogue and mutual understanding. He also expressed concern about what he called narratives promoted by the Albanian nation’s traditional enemies, which, he said, should not impede Albania’s progress.

Calling for calm and restraint, Lladrovci stressed that governments are changed through the ballot box, not through violence or chants of “burn it, burn it”. He ended his message by urging Albanians not to let Albania burn.