Albania: Student protesters hurled bricks and concrete blocks at Albania’s Education Ministry in Tirana on Tuesday, prompting police to fire tear gas and use water cannons as a nationwide demonstration over education and social issues turned violent. Police detained several protesters.
Student organisers said the demonstration was aimed at highlighting conditions at universities, the cost of higher education, financial support and employment prospects after graduation. Some participants also expressed frustration with inequality and the government.
“What Albania needs is a revolution, a change, a complete overthrow of the system because it can’t go on like this,” protester Luljeta Kola said, pointing to deep social injustice and a widening gap between rich and poor.
The demonstration comes amid a broader wave of student activism across Europe. In France, high school students have staged weeks of protests and school blockades, demanding more teachers and better facilities. They argue that deteriorating school buildings and overcrowded classrooms are undermining education.
Albania’s Deputy Prime Minister Albana Koçiu criticised the violence in a post on Facebook.
“Violence has not been, is not, and will never be a solution. Throwing stones, attacking institutions and the state police, as well as the senseless destruction of public property, are not how youth should express themselves,” she wrote.
