Prime Minister Edi Rama addressed youth protesting in Tirana on Thursday for the first time after three days of violent demonstrations, calling them the country’s future and urging dialogue, while insisting that genuine students were not responsible for the widespread destruction.

Speaking in a video message recorded inside the damaged offices of the European Union-backed College of Europe in Tirana, Rama drew a sharp line between student concerns and the street violence that has paralyzed parts of the capital.

"Students are the future... and for them, we are always ready to sit down, speak, discuss, and find solutions," Rama said. However, he accused political opponents of hijacking the demonstrations, calling the attacks on public institutions the work of "an opposition which, hiding behind blind masks, seeks with fire and iron to drag Albania back into the abyss". Warning that the law applies to everyone, Rama vowed that anyone responsible for the devastation "will pay".

His address came as tens of thousands of students—aged between 15 and 25—abandoned their schools and universities on Thursday to pour into central Tirana's square and surrounding streets. Heavy police deployments actively moved to prevent the crowds from spreading further into the city's major thoroughfares.

According to an OCCRP correspondent on the ground, the explosive student uprising is the latest and most volatile phase of a 100-day siege of Albania’s political center, mounting the most formidable challenge in years to Rama's government. Demonstrators rallied near local high schools this week to mobilize students into the broader movement, dubbed by organizers as the “Flamingo Revolution.”

The movement originally began months ago as a localized environmental campaign. It was sparked by unconfirmed reports that the government planned to allow Affinity Partners, an investment firm allegedly backed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to construct high-end tourism facilities on the uninhabited Sazan Island and within the protected Vjosa-Narta wetland ecosystem—a habitat for the flamingos that gave the protests their name. While Rama framed the investment as a key catalyst for tourism and European Union integration, environmentalists fiercely opposed the privatization of pristine reserves.

Against the backdrop of the protests in September, an OCCRP report detailed how Rama had backed a 2023 law relaxing environmental restrictions on protected areas shortly before the Kushner project advanced. The report also revealed that the project’s ownership structure was concealed behind a cascade of offshore shell companies stretching to Amsterdam and Doha, and that Albania's anti-corruption agency had unfrozen $127 million in related assets after facing political pressure.

During the initial two days of the current protests on Tuesday and Wednesday, demonstrators hurled stones, flares, and Molotov cocktails, and erected flaming barricades out of rubbish bins. Police deployed tear gas and water cannons to hold back the crowds.

More than eight public institutions were attacked, including the Prime Minister’s Office, the Constitutional Court, the Bank of Albania, and three government ministries.

According to a detailed statement from the Albanian State Police, the violence initially began around 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday outside the Ministry of Education, where masked individuals threw concrete slabs and explosives at police and the building itself, damaging its walls and windows. Protesters later broke into Tirana City Hall on Ded Gjon Luli Street, smashing a door and setting a fire on the ground floor.

Elsewhere, protesters smashed the entrance doors to the Speaker’s Office of the Parliament, starting another fire inside the building. At least four commercial banks and several private businesses—including a microfinance institution and a business near the city's Twin Towers—were damaged, vandalized, or looted.

The unrest brought central Tirana to a standstill for hours. Police officially stated that six officers were injured by stones, hard objects, and explosives. Under the direction of the Tirana Prosecutor's Office, police arrested 16 individuals—ranging in age from 23 to 59—in connection with the violence, while another 49 face criminal proceedings. Authorities urged peaceful demonstrators to distance themselves from masked agitators, noting that arson and property destruction carry penalties of up to seven years in prison.

The scale of the violence prompted immediate international concern. The U.S. Embassy in Tirana issued a security alert on Wednesday, noting that the protests on Durres Street next to Skanderbeg Square had turned violent due to rock throwing and could expand to nearby government buildings. The embassy advised personnel to avoid demonstrations and urged American citizens to remain vigilant.

The European Union Delegation in Albania also strongly condemned the escalation of violence and the destruction of public and private property. Calling on protesters to exercise restraint and avoid all acts of violence, the EU stressed that "violence has no place in democracy". While emphasizing that freedom of assembly and expression are core European values that must be exercised peacefully, the delegation added that constructive dialogue between all parties is the only way forward to address legitimate concerns.

Albania's President Bajram Begaj reacted via a statement on Facebook, calling on the youth to exercise restraint. He emphasized that the right to peaceful protest is a fundamental part of democracy, but warned that "violence cannot be a means of expressing dissatisfaction, nor should the use of force by the police exceed the limits of the law and proportionality."

"The Constitution and the law must remain the limit for everyone, without exception. I remain ready to listen to all concerns," Begaj added.

In a separate video address on Thursday, Education Minister Mirela Kumbaro appealed directly to parents, teachers, and civil society as tensions spread across school networks. Speaking as both a minister and a mother, Kumbaro urged families not to let their children become victims of the chaos or be manipulated by "dark hands" seeking to destabilize the country. While defending the right of youth to protest legitimately, she insisted that dialogue—not destruction—is the only way forward, emphasizing that schools must remain protected places of learning.

Note: Clarification made in the 7th paragraph.