Star Metro - PM condemns 'chaos' as violent protests grip Albania

Thousands of demonstrators are demanding Rama's resignation and more support for students, citing poor university conditions and high tuition fees.

On Thursday protests had also spread to several smaller cities, as students joined university boycotts.

The escalation comes after months of anti-government demonstrations in the country originally sparked by a controversial resort development linked to US President Donald Trump's family.

"We demand real change, not empty promises. We want a government that works for its people, not against them," journalism student Teftalia Papa told AFP.

"We want a better Albania, where healthcare provides the basic standards every citizen deserves, education provides decent conditions and equal opportunities, and students can afford to study and live without being crushed by rising costs," she said.

Protesters in Tirana on Tuesday and Wednesday smashed their way into several government buildings and set at least one ablaze.

As protests again began on Thursday, police pushed back crowds trying to approach the education ministry and the parliament, while demonstrators hurled stones at officers, according to an AFP reporter.

Rama earlier posted a video on his Facebook page showing him touring the burnt-out remains of an office at a college campus in Tirana.

"Until yesterday, this was the office of the College of Europe, the school of a united Europe," he said in the video -- his first public comments since the protests began.

"Today this is the ruin left by hands that are not, and can never be, the hands of students," Rama said, blaming opposition figures for the violence at the demonstrations.

"Everyone is responsible before the law, and everyone who has had a hand in this chaos will certainly pay."

- 'Ruin' and 'chaos' -

The prime minister was due to meet his party's parliamentary group early Thursday, when protest groups circulated an "ultimatum" demanding his resignation by 1:00 pm (1100 GMT).

But even before the deadline passed protesters had already begun clashing with police, building makeshift barriers and setting fire to bins.

Images broadcast on local media also showed protesters confronting police in southern coastal cities, with reports of Korce students smashing school windows and blocking streets.

For more than four months, anti-government protests in Albania have routinely drawn crowds in the thousands.

Triggered by a luxury hotel project linked to Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, they became a symbol of alleged corruption and inequality in the country.

Protester and media analyst Altin Tufa said several factors fueled the demonstrations, but the alleged clearing of land for the project in a protected coastal area was the "last straw, unleashing people's discontent and anger".

"It is the indifference, arrogance and failure of the entire political class to listen to people's concerns about economic, political, social and healthcare issues," Tufa said as he marched with protesters.

The European Union's delegation in Tirana strongly condemned Thursday's "violent escalation".

"We call on protesters to exercise restraint and to refrain from any acts of violence. Violence has no place in democracies," it said in a statement.

The EU had also previously urged prompt investigation into allegations of excessive police force.

Police said 65 people were arrested during Wednesday's protests, suspected of "attacking police officers, institutions, public and private property".

The health ministry said in a statement that hospitals in Tirana treated 89 people on Wednesday, including 61 police officers.

Four officers and two protesters remained hospitalised, with a demonstrator and two officers expected to undergo surgery.

G.Boudreau--SMC