Student-led protesters clashed with police in Albania's capital Tirana for a third consecutive day on Thursday as demonstrations against the government grew over corruption allegations and a major tourism project linked to US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Young demonstrators threw rocks at a police cordon outside the Education Ministry, prompting riot police to fire tear gas and use water cannons. Several protesters were detained.
Masked youths also fired fireworks at government offices and set fire to rubbish bins, filling the streets with thick smoke. Television reporters struggled to breathe during live broadcasts as smoke and tear gas spread through the area.
The clashes followed hours of unrest on Wednesday, when protesters attacked government buildings, banks and businesses, leaving dozens injured.
The protests began with student groups demanding education reforms but later joined the so-called Flamingo Movement, which is calling for Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation over alleged widespread corruption. The movement also opposes a luxury tourism development planned for Albania's southern coast by an investment firm founded by Kushner.
The movement takes its name from images of pink flamingos used by protesters. Thousands of the birds live in a nature reserve on the island where the project is planned.
On Thursday, high school students joined thousands of demonstrators marching through central Tirana, chanting “Rama Resign!” and bringing traffic to a standstill.
“We will be in the square every day,” prominent protest organiser Mateo Yskollari wrote online, warning that any attempt to silence the demonstrators would lead to wider protests and civil disobedience.
Although the rallies initially remained peaceful, some groups later clashed with police and attacked government buildings and shops.
Police focused on protecting government facilities, while officials urged parents to keep their teenage children away from the unrest.
National Police Chief Skender Hita said 71 police officers had been injured. He called on officers to act professionally and with restraint, stressing that the right to peaceful protest could not be used to justify violence, arson or vandalism.
As smaller clashes spread to at least three other cities, Education Minister Mirela Kumbaro appealed to parents in a video message to keep children away from the violence and destruction of public and private property.
Rama visited cleanup workers on Thursday and released a video message from a fire-damaged college building. He accused political opponents of encouraging the violence and vowed to remain in office to advance Albania's bid to join the European Union.
“We will all get through these difficult hours together because Albania will continue to climb, because Albania will continue on its path to Europe,” he said, adding that nobody could place the country above the law.
Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive election victory last year, and the next parliamentary election is not scheduled until 2029.
The opposition Democratic Party backed the student-led demonstrations and called on Rama to form a caretaker government ahead of early elections. It also arranged legal assistance for detained protesters.
The party described the movement as a broader revolt against a system it accused of undermining young people's hopes, breaking public trust and moving Albania further away from its European aspirations.
An European Union delegation in Albania called late Wednesday for a proportionate response from the authorities, expressing concern over the escalation of violence during the protests in Tirana.