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Albania’s Rama calls Iran a ‘terrorist republic,’ accuses it of fueling protests
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama branded Iran a “terrorist republic” and accused it, along with Russia, of activating thousands of fake accounts to fuel anti-government protests now in their second week, without offering evidence. He announced a €2,500 reward for every officer policing the protests and threatened to strip students who attack police of scholarships and free education.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama escalated his rhetoric on Monday, in the second week of anti-government protests, alleging that Iran and Russia were behind an online campaign to inflame the streets. Speaking at a meeting with State Police leadership in Tirana, he said Albania was facing a coordinated attack targeting its bid to join the European Union and that foreign services were behind the mobilization of young people.
“Terrorist Republic of Iran”
Rama said, as reported by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), that thousands of fake accounts made to look like Albanians defending nature had been set in motion since environmental protests against two tourism projects in Zvërnec and on Sazan Island, and that thousands more had been activated by the “terrorist Republic of Iran.” In his account, Russia played a similar role in stoking anger at the government.
Rama also tied the protests to Antifa, a movement U.S. President Donald Trump has declared a terrorist organization, but showed no concrete evidence of Iranian or Russian involvement and conceded that the protesters were mostly young Albanians. What is happening, he argued, “is not a revolt for education.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had responded to Rama’s earlier remarks on Sunday evening in a statement released by Russia’s embassy in Tirana, saying it was Albania’s own citizens who had taken to the streets and urging him to stop blaming others and solve his domestic problems.
Rewards for police, penalties for students
Rama announced that each officer involved in policing the protests would immediately receive €2,500, the same amount for all regardless of rank and salary, and promised a large increase in police pay from Jan. 1.
The prime minister threatened students who attack police with the loss of scholarships, free education and state financial support. He said families of minors involved in the violence would bear the cost of the damage, telling them, “You will pay,” and warned teachers who incite pupils to damage institutions. Rama did not explain the legal basis for the measures or which bodies would carry them out.
Molotov cocktails in central Tirana
Footage broadcast by Albanian channel News24 shows a protester in a yellow hard hat bringing a stick down again and again on police shields beside a water cannon truck.
Some 300 people have been hurt since Oct. 13, when the protests started, and police officers account for more than half of them, the authorities say. On Sunday, a police station and the Interior Ministry entrance were targeted with Molotov cocktails.
In another clip, which the channel said was from the sixth day of the protests, demonstrators rain Molotov cocktails on a police cordon in central Tirana. Police are relying on water cannon, tear gas and, since Saturday, rubber rounds.
Criticism and a refusal to resign
The bonus promises drew fire from the opposition. Belind Këlliçi, deputy chairman of the Democratic Party, said the prime minister was rewarding police for beating students and the children of Albanians. In a five-point statement, 735 university lecturers and academics demanded Rama’s departure and an end to the police violence targeting students. Albania’s ombudsman has also launched administrative investigations into the use of force and the treatment of detainees, among them minors.
The media were also in Rama’s sights: he accused News24 and Syri TV, both known for criticizing the government, of tax evasion and money laundering without backing up the claims. At the same time, he said he was open to dialogue with all sides except political forces that support violence, and ruled out resigning, saying his term runs until 2029.
On the streets, crowds of hundreds returned on Monday to Tirana’s main square and to the area across from the Education Ministry. Science student Leka Sina, 22, told AFP: “We will continue our movement until Rama resigns.”
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