Albania on fire: who-s behind the riots?

Albania on fire: who-s behind the riots?

Tirana is burning and Prime Minister Edi Rama is pointing his finger at anyone but himself
Anti-government rioters have torched Albania’s education ministry and supreme court, as protests spread across the Balkan nation. Prime Minister Edi Rama is refusing to step down and blames the unrest on Russia. What’s really going on?
As of October 19, the Albanian capital of Tirana has been rocked by seven consecutive days and nights of rioting, while protests and clashes between demonstrators and police have been reported in the cities of Lezhe, Vlore, Elbasan, and Shkoder. A large group of rioters breached the perimeter of the education ministry in Tirana on October 14, setting the building on fire. 
Running battles between demonstrators and police have broken out around the ministry on several occasions since. On October 19, hundreds of demonstrators pelted rocks at riot police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. The previous night, offices of the Albanian Supreme Court were set on fire, and arson attacks on several police stations in the city were reported.
Some 500 demonstrators had been detained and 167 of them formally arrested as of October 17, according to Reuters. 295 people had been injured, including 196 police officers, as of October 19, according to Interior Minister Ervin Demo.
What do the protesters want?The protests follow more than a year of unrest in Albania, which began when Rama banned TikTok in the runup to last March’s parliamentary elections,  during every major election across the bloc since 2024. The ban was lifted in February of this year, but demonstrations broke out again in May after Rama’s government authorized the sale of protected wetlands to a development company operated by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Read more The protesters demanded the resignation of Rama and his entire cabinet, and the cancellation of a planned twin-phase resort project on the wetlands and on nearby Sazan Island. 
The protesters’ core demand – that Rama resign – remains unchanged. However, the movement is now calling for a root-and-branch reform of the entire Albanian establishment, with demonstrators accusing both Rama and opposition leader Sali Berisha of corruption. Unemployment, underfunding of schools, and declining living standards have also been cited by protesters as grievances.
What did Rama say about the protests?Despite the repeated chants of Rama resign heard at the protests, Rama has claimed that the demonstrators do not oppose his government, but Albania’s mission of joining the EU. 
I am not being challenged, he said in a video address on October 18. The government is not being challenged, a government majority or a winning party in the elections is not being challenged but a path is being challenged, a mission is being challenged
Albanians need to think ​very clearly, he continued. Do they want this, do they want that, or do they want the EU?
Rama has refused to resign, and blamed the protests on foreign hands that do not wish for Albania to be at peace. Back in June, Rama accused the enemies of Albania and of Israel of waging a hybrid war to stop the wetlands development. In two separate speeches on October 18 and 19, the embattled PM blamed the unrest on Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin and a wave of Russian influence in the entire social media system, and on the Khomeiniist republic of Iran, the pinnacle of disinformation.
Was Russia involved?In short, no. Rama has not backed up any of his accusations, and they are being treated with skepticism and ridicule by demonstrators and opposition media. Albania’s Publik Media news outlet criticised Rama for eturn[ing[ to the Berisha, Russia and Iran alibi, while Pamfleti, an investigative outlet, dismissed his claims as an ignorant reaction to those protesting his misgovernance 
Even the US-run Radio Free Europe noted that Rama did no