Tear gas, Molotov cocktails, smashed windows: Violence erupts in Albania as students protest for better education, seeks PM's resignation

Massive students protests have erupted in Albania as hundreds of students took to streets to seek Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation and better education. Riot police was seen on the street using tear gas and water cannons on the protesting students and protesters were seen throwing stones and eggs at the security personnel. AFP reported that the protesting students smashed windows of the education ministry, defaced the property, tore down a fence and set billboards on fire. In a statement, police said that six officers and one female journalist were injured and at least 23 people were arrested. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ervin Demo condemned the violence. "I call on all participants to remain calm, violence is unjustifiable," he said in a Facebook post.

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Video footage published by local media appeared to show officers striking and dragging protesters, prompting allegations of excessive force. Other footage showed demonstrators throwing objects at police and damaging property. The Albanian Helsinki Committee, a human rights organization, expressed concern over violence during the demonstration and called for an independent investigation into allegations of excessive police force. The organization condemned violence by any party and said the actions of individual demonstrators should not be used to justify treating all participants as violent.

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Anti-government protests have been taking place in Albania since four months. It was sparked by a luxury tourism project linked to US President Donald Trump's family. Protesters have opposed plans for a luxury hotel in a coastal nature reserve linked to Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner. The project has fuelled anger over alleged corruption and a lack of transparency, with protesters demanding Rama's resignation.

Students echoed those demands but told local media that Tuesday's rally was also to decry university conditions, tuition fees and a lack of support for young people. "Problems are not solved by pretending they do not exist. Students have questions, demands and plenty of reasons to be heard," one of the organisers said on Instagram.