Clashes broke out Thursday between police and demonstrators in front of the Albanian parliament in Tirana, where demonstrations against a tourist real estate project linked to Donald Trump’s family are intensifying.
Rallies have been taking place since late May to protest the construction of a luxury hotel linked to the US president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, in a nature reserve in Zvernec, on Albania’s southwest coast.
For the second time this week, large groups of demonstrators gathered in front of parliament in an attempt to confront MPs and block access to the building. Hundreds of demonstrators encountered lines of riot police who pushed them back, causing clashes and several arrests, according to AFP journalists present on site.
AFP
Police used tear gas and a water cannon to try to disperse the crowd, with some demonstrators trying to break through police lines.
Nine officers were injured by projectiles thrown by demonstrators, police said, without confirming the number of arrests. The windows of an empty police car on a nearby street were also smashed.
These events follow the arrest on Tuesday of six demonstrators who had thrown eggs at MPs’ cars.
This violence contrasts sharply with the daily, mostly peaceful, gatherings which have drawn thousands of people into the streets since the start of the movement.
AFP
This tourist complex project was unveiled for the first time in 2024 and quickly encountered strong opposition. The latest wave of protests began after barbed wire fences and bulldozers appeared on nearby beaches at the end of May.
AFP
Opposition to this project has become the rallying point for anger over what protesters see as corruption, with the latter calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama due to his lack of transparency.
