Protests launched by students have entered their fourth day and have spread to other cities across Albania. In Tirana, the streets have been littered with stones and burned containers, while fires have damaged public buildings. Windows have been broken and shops looted.
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According to the authorities, clashes between police and groups of protesters, mostly masked, have left dozens injured, most of them police officers. Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd.
Students are protesting the high cost of education and government corruption. Their main demand is the resignation of the government led by Edi Rama. High school students have also joined the protests, while classes have been boycotted at universities in Tirana and several other cities, as well as at some high schools in the capital.
After four days of demonstrations and clashes, students continue to take to the streets of Tirana. Authorities say that 160 protesters were detained on the evening of October 15 alone. The students, however, say they are determined not to stop.
Blerta, a student at the Faculty of Economics in Tirana, told Radio Free Europe that students had been left with no other choice. She said that even those who work struggle to cover the costs of education and living expenses, while their demands go unheard. She said that degrees are devalued by the lack of meritocracy and that jobs go to the children of politicians, public administration employees and oligarchs.
Professors have also joined the students in the streets. Lush Susaj, a professor at the Agricultural University of Tirana, said he was protesting both for his students and for the people who had been forced to leave the country. He told RFE/RL about a student who completed a master’s degree in science with excellent results but now makes pastries at a neighborhood business in Tirana. For the professor, this is a painful reality.
Susaj attributes this situation to the politicization of schools and universities, as well as the lack of meritocracy in employment. According to him, without the support of the ruling party, it is impossible to get a job at these institutions: even when a student has excellent results, the position may go to a party patronage operative without the necessary skills or relevant education. He sees the outbreak of the protest as a consequence of poor governance, corruption and nepotism, not as the students’ fault.
Pensioners are also taking part in the protest. One of them, Syrja Xhani, worked with the National Circus troupe and was among the organizers of the protests against the demolition of the National Theatre in 2020. He said he had been protesting against the Rama government for 140 days.
Discontent with the government has brought citizens onto the streets for months. Initially, the protests were fueled by a controversial tourism project in Zvërnec, Vlora, linked to Jared Kushner. Protesters see it, like other projects, as evidence that politicians prioritize their own interests over those of citizens and disregard the public interest.
Xhani told RFE/RL that those in power accumulate great wealth while citizens struggle to make a living. After years of work, he said his pension forces him to choose between buying medicine and food. He believes the protest should have started earlier.
Another pensioner standing nearby, who declined to be identified, said his generation bears part of the responsibility for the current situation because it failed to eradicate communism. He believes that, regardless of the consequences, pensioners should remain in the square every day alongside the students and for the sake of their children, without backing down.
Socioeconomic data for Albania show that the average monthly gross wage in the second quarter of 2026 was 92,150 lek, or around 1,000 euros, before taxes and contributions. Youth unemployment among 15- to 24-year-olds, across all education levels, stood at 21.5% in 2025, compared with 8.4% nationwide. Also in 2025, 19% of the population was at risk of poverty, with disposable income below the relative poverty threshold, while 31.2% experienced severe material and social deprivation, unable to afford at least 7 of 13 material and social needs.
Students and other citizens taking part in the protest say escalation was the only way left for them to be heard. Aurel Kujtimi, an activist for student causes, attributes it to the government’s arrogance. He told RFE/RL that instead of being heard, citizens were scorned and mocked, while the violence that, in his view, police are inflicting on young people is adding to their anger.
Kujtimi expressed regret for the small businesses damaged during the protest, but not for the large businesses he considers connected to those in power and beneficiaries of taxpayers’ money. On Friday, photographs circulated on social media showing businesses that had placed white sheets at their entrances bearing a message of support for the students and asking that they not be damaged.
In a video published on Facebook on Friday, Prime Minister Rama said the protests did not stem from citizens’ legitimate concerns and aspirations for a better life. Without identifying them, he accused “foreign hands” of instigating the unrest to prevent Albania from progressing toward membership in the European Union. The previous day, Rama had told Reuters that he would not resign.
Susaj also believes that the way the protest has been managed has contributed to its escalation. He accused police of using violence against protesters and recounted that, on the first day of the escalation, he was in front of the Ministry of Education. After tear gas was used, he entered an alley with his students to help them. According to the professor, police officers came to beat the students even though they were lying on the ground, but left after recognizing him. He described the police conduct during these days as unprofessional and said that violence against young people further intensifies their anger toward the government.
The EU Delegation in Albania condemned the escalation of violence and damage to public and private property. It called on protesters to exercise restraint, demanded that police use force proportionately and called for priority investigations into allegations of excessive force against protesters and journalists. Police have warned that anyone exceeding their powers will be held responsible, while the Ombudsperson has begun examining whether the force used against protesters was proportionate.
The clashes have also raised concerns about the safety of children attending schools near the protest areas. Elona Gjylmi, a journalist with more than 20 years of experience and the mother of a child who attends school near the Ministry of Education, supports the protests and understands the anger of young people, but fears students’ exposure to tear gas.
She told RFE/RL that her child’s school is located about 100 meters from the Ministry of Education. According to Gjylmi, only six children were attending classes that day, and their parents picked them up before the end of the school day. She believes the Ministry of Education should suspend classes at schools near institutions that come under attack during protests, to prevent children from being exposed to large quantities of gas and chemicals.
According to the protesters, a way out of the political crisis requires the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, the formation of a technical government and the holding of early elections. They are also calling for political dialogue to begin.
