Rama’s crisis is spreading. In Tirana, students are joining forces with the flamingos to fight corruption

Yesterday, student protests in Tirana turned violent. The police used water cannons against the students, who, for the second day running, clashed with the police, whilst protesters erected barricades using burning rubbish bins. The previous night, 23 people had been arrested, and six police officers and a journalist had been injured. Yesterday, the demonstrators escalated the clashes by attacking the guard post at the Ministry of Education, and the police responded with tear gas and water cannons.

Deputy Prime Minister Albana Kociu condemned the violence, pointing out that the right to protest must not become a pretext for destroying the city. The student mobilisation, which arose from protests over conditions at universities, the cost of higher education, financial support and the country’s high unemployment rate, has now joined forces with the Flamingo movement, which has been calling for months for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign over allegations of corruption.

The so-called ‘flamingo revolution’ takes its name from the pink symbols used in demonstrations against tourism projects on the Albanian coast, including the one linked to Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. The protests of recent days have therefore evolved into a broader critique of the Albanian power structure, which is accused of favouring private interests and oligarchs. The movement brings together young people, anti-corruption campaigners and environmentalists, without a unified political leadership; however, its demands align with the requirements for Albania’s accession to the European Union.

The day before yesterday in Luxembourg, at the tenth meeting of the Accession Conference, negotiations on Chapter 20 (entrepreneurship and industrial policy) were provisionally concluded. Rama has promised to double the number of dossiers by the end of the year, but the clashes and allegations of corruption are making the gap between the government’s European ambitions and the crisis of confidence gripping the country increasingly evident.