Prime Minister Edi Rama spoke again today about the violent protests in Tirana, providing details about how they were organized.
"While the freedom to protest is an undeniable right, in Albania violence is an unjustifiable crime. Unfortunately, in the protests of the past week, both came together, on the one hand the freedom to protest as an undeniable right and on the other hand violence as a crime that was relativized and glorified on the corrupt screens of the media evenings. Unrelentingly, hour after hour, Albanians watched with anxiety as terror took everyone hostage and were overwhelmed with the completely false idea that innocent and idealistic students were subjected to police violence. A dramatic, manipulative reversal of a completely different reality. I have shared with you the reports of injured police officers and injured protesters, in Europe and in Albania. It is not uncommon anywhere for the most damaged part to be the Police. It is uncommon here.
Today I am here to expose a component that I have commented on amidst much ridicule and amidst many insults directed at me, as an insulting comment to students. Since the massive peaceful protest of flamenco began, I have said that the reasons for protesting are legitimate. But that from the very beginning that protest was heavily influenced by other forces has been a fact. It has been a fact that in this second and violent wave has been evidenced in all its magnitude. The escalation has been prepared for several months. The data on the introduction into Albania of masks, explosives and so on, through customs and by certain subjects, are already in the hands of the Police. The data on the organization of groups as part of the ANTIFA network, the urban terror network that in the name of neo-communism has decided to enter people's lives through violence, are in the hands of the Police. But in the hands of the Police are also some of the participants in this violence, directly financed by organized crime and foreign forces. But the icing on the cake is the DP, which yesterday also took responsibility for starting the violence at the Ministry of Education.
"Now I will share with you images that will shock many. These people are not students, they are something else. They look to violence to bring the elected government of Albania to its knees and to impose on me an intolerable violation of the contract with the Albanians," Rama said, among other things.