Prime Minister Edi Rama addressed the student protests and the violence reported during the demonstrations at a press conference, emphasizing the damage caused by protesters. Rama went on to describe the acts of violence as a form of “inhumanity” and an attempt to impose the will of a minority on the majority of citizens who wish to live peacefully.
Addressing the concerns of citizens who are not involved in these acts, Rama stressed that fear and anxiety should not overwhelm those who hold different political views or simply wish to go about their daily lives without disruption.
“All those who are not part of this aggression and who experience fear because of this violent crowd — I am also referring to those who disagree with having me as prime minister, as well as those who simply want to live without being forced to change their daily routines because of an aggressive crowd.
Can a crowd impose its will on all of us after wandering around for months, marching through the streets every night shouting, bullying and attacking drivers, and then erupting into a frenzy of violence against the city and the State Police? Who are they, and on whose behalf do they seek to impose the force of inhumanity? Individuals and groups with no connection to one another have come together,” Rama said.
Rama further emphasized that the people speak only through their vote, which remains the fundamental agreement underpinning every democratic system.
“This mishmash that has taken Tirana hostage has nothing to do with the people and has no authorization to speak on their behalf, because the people speak for themselves through their vote. This is the fundamental agreement of democracy.
A crowd that does not simply demand to be heard but expects unconditional support for its anti-democratic recklessness, whose basic vocabulary contains no standards of communication, no form of dialogue or confrontation. I find it impossible to understand this frontal assault on the code of our civilization,” he said.
Rama’s Full Speech
Good afternoon, everyone!
I have repeatedly asked myself these past few days: Is it possible to accept as normal the aggression of a crowd which, in the name of youth, students and the future, seeks to impose itself on all of us, not merely by smashing the windows of the Ministry of Education and nearby shops, but by breaking every norm of coexistence among people living in the same city?
And when I say all of us, I do not mean myself, the government or the parliamentary majority. No, I mean everyone, without exception — all those who are not part of this aggression and who experience fear, insecurity and confusion because of this crowd of urban thugs and online harassers.
Of course, I also mean those who did not vote for this government, who do not want me as prime minister, who disagree with everything we do, but who nevertheless want to move freely around this city, take their children to school, go to work, keep their shops open until the evening and enjoy an undisturbed evening walk.
In short, they want to live without being forced to change their daily routines because of a crowd that is aggressive toward the normal life of Tirana.
Can a crowd impose itself on all of us after spending months roaming around Tirana, marching through the streets of the city center every night shouting and swearing, disturbing people sitting in cafés, shops and restaurants or those upstairs in their homes, or behaving outrageously at intersections to block traffic, bullying and attacking drivers prevented from continuing on their way, without the slightest regard for anyone else’s freedom or rights, before erupting into a frenzy of violence with stones and fire against the city, institutions, shops and the State Police?
Who are these people, and on whose behalf do they seek to impose on our society, our capital and our country an example of the blind force of lawlessness and inhumanity?
I do not wish to return here to the composition of this crowd, a mishmash of categories bringing together individuals, social groups and political parties that have nothing to do with one another.
Nor do I wish to repeat here the involvement of foreign hands, illicit money and organized crime…
This mishmash has had one unifying slogan ever since the flamingos’ platform turned into a gathering place for crows and ravens:
“We are the people. We can no longer tolerate this system. We no longer want this government. We no longer accept this prime minister!
Resign! Obey the people!”
What a huge misunderstanding!
Fortunately, none of us is the people except the people themselves.
And this mishmash of misguided individuals who have taken Tirana “hostage,” along with the attention of an entire nation, thanks also to corrupt television channels that glorify violence and vulgarity, has nothing to do with the people.
They certainly have no authorization whatsoever to speak on behalf of the people, because the people speak for themselves through their vote.
Neither this blind crowd, nor we ourselves, nor anyone else, but only the sovereign people grant mandates to speak and make decisions in their name.
This is the fundamental agreement of democracy, just as democracy guarantees every individual’s freedom and right to speak on their own behalf or on behalf of the group, organization, association, trade union or community to which they belong; to demand what they believe in, what they desire, or even whatever they happen to want; to take to the streets, protest or go on strike for what they believe they are entitled to.
But their freedom and rights — the freedom and rights of all those who seek to impose their thoughts, ideas, demands and beliefs on others — end where the freedom and rights of others to have their own thoughts, ideas, positions and beliefs begin.
And above all, their own lives.
This boundary separates the law of democratic coexistence from the rules of totalitarian systems or the jungle, where violence, force, fear and unconditional submission prevail.
It was precisely this boundary that fascists and communists violently crossed in the name of the people, against the system, through violence and terror.
And we all know very well what they subsequently brought upon the people and the country.
Or at least all those who know history and do not confuse Ismail Qemali with Ismail Kadare.
I have asked myself repeatedly these days: Is it possible to understand all this frenzy of verbal violence, threats, insults, pressure and blackmail spreading across social networks and digital communications against anyone who refuses to submit to the coercive aggression of this crowd — not merely those who refuse to submit, but those who refuse to praise it?
A crowd that does not simply demand to be heard but expects unconditional support for its anti-democratic recklessness, whose basic vocabulary, in the name of youth, students and the future, contains not the slightest respect for any standard of politeness, any standard of communication, or any form of dialogue or confrontation?
Personally, I find it impossible to understand this frontal assault on the code of our civilization.
Despite the democratic shortcomings in our culture of coexistence, for which we all undoubtedly bear some responsibility, neither Albanian family traditions, nor the democratic norms of coexistence, nor European civilization have anything in common with the largely vulgar content of this violent verbal assault carried out in the name of youth, students and the future.
As the popular saying goes: “The tongue has no bones, but it breaks bones!”
And with the help of television celebrities, it is now also breaking ATMs and setting banks on fire.
My duties have taken me over all these years to every corner of Albania, where I have met countless people and witnessed countless family realities among the ordinary citizens of this country.
But amid the countless lights and shadows of our reality, I have clearly seen how different, how much deeper in spirit and clearer in mind, is the Albania that is represented neither by this crowd of aggressors in public spaces — whether on the streets of Tirana or on iPhone screens — nor, certainly, by corrupt television channels.
On those channels, a mob of professional haters, celebrities and individuals living in the luxury afforded by tax evasion have, in recent weeks, become a chorus seemingly intoxicated by the pleasure of violence.
All these people, in the streets and on television, say they want “my head.”
But in reality, I and the governing majority stand as the great obstacle between them and the Albania that has left behind disorder, debt and urban ugliness.
An Albania that, through work and effort, is growing its economy, investments, wages and pensions; that is fighting corruption and crime through an independent justice system, without looking left or right; that welcomes 12 million or more tourists every year; that enjoys unprecedented international respect; and that is negotiating with the European Union to close the accession chapters by the end of 2027.
Those whose hatred, for various reasons, prevents them from seeing and accepting this Albania undergoing a historic transformation — an Albania that has plenty of problems and difficulties but is nevertheless moving forward every day through the work of this governing majority and the overwhelming majority of Albanians — have every right to criticize, protest and demand my resignation, whether in the streets or on television.
But I am and will remain at my post until the very last day of my contract with the ordinary people of Albania, who entrusted me with this responsibility to do everything in my power for this blessed country.
I was not entrusted with this duty to dance to the tune of those who claim to be students while tearing stones from the boulevard to attack the police, or those who claim to be media outlets while keeping their broadcasting antennas running with dirty money to glorify violence against the police, or feeding envelopes of cash to the suited and low-cut-dress-wearing aggressors on their Big Brother-style television screens.
Dear fellow citizens, regardless of your political beliefs or affiliations, all of you who have nothing to do with violence and reject violence as a means of expressing your dissatisfaction, and all of you who, even during these difficult days, have continued to show your support and solidarity — not for me, but for an effort that cannot, must not and will not stop.
I said it when there was no protest on the horizon, and I repeatedly emphasized it when I sought a fourth mandate: my goal is for Albanians to benefit more from Albania’s economic growth every year.
And every year, we have increased the amount of economic growth redistributed to the people, taking advantage of every new opportunity provided by the following year’s budget for wages, investments and social spending.
Likewise, precisely because the economy has made it possible, we have committed to doubling pension increases in each subsequent year as part of this redistribution, until the end of the fourth mandate.
In January, pensioners will once again be able to verify this commitment in their first pension payment of the coming year, when this year’s increase will be doubled.
I have said it every time, including when speaking about all those who made the flamingos’ protest so impressive at the beginning:
I am aware of the growing pressure that everyday living costs are placing on ordinary families, due to rising fuel and food prices, as well as increasing housing costs for younger people amid this economic transformation, which must, by every possible means, be gradually brought into balance.
Just three days ago, I told you that following the new legislative package addressing violence and urban anarchy, I would also announce directly to you new measures aimed specifically at easing the burden on ordinary families.
Not as promises, but as government decisions within the framework of the new state budget for 2027, which we are submitting to the Albanian Parliament today.
For the first time in history, Albania’s state budget exceeds the €10 billion threshold.
This figure alone is enough to tell all those who seek to obscure the light of Albania’s progress through the sieve of hatred and jealousy that Albania is growing, and so is its economy.
Meanwhile, Albania’s public debt has also fallen to a historically low level.
It is not just me saying this, nor just us. All the figures and facts from international financial institutions show that the Albanian economy continues to be among the most dynamic in the region, with strong and sustained performance and rising real incomes across all segments of the population.
Reaching the €30 billion threshold in Gross National Product, compared with €10 billion just ten years ago, faithfully illustrates the optimistic outlook for the economy.
Therefore, in the 2027 Budget and the Medium-Term Budget Programme, covering the second half of our mandate from 2027 to 2029, we have planned a series of highly ambitious economic, fiscal and social policy measures.
I believe my message is very clear to everyone:
We want more businesses, more companies, more private investment, both small and large, domestic and foreign.
We also want as many wealthy people in Albania as possible, because the problem is never the wealthy themselves, but the gap between those who have a great deal and those who have very little.
That is why we remain strong advocates of fair taxation: those who earn more should pay more.
And we are here to reduce, as much as possible, the social inequalities created by rapid economic transformation.
The first in a series of good announcements I have today for the ordinary families of this country is that, thanks precisely to economic growth and the opportunities it has created, we are ready to take a long-desired and long-awaited step for all ordinary families:
1. We are reducing the VAT rate on basic food products from 20% to 6% for 54 products, including meat, fish, dairy products, eggs, flour, oils, sugar, pasta, fruit, vegetables and essential baby food products.
With this measure alone, we will leave approximately €150 million a year in the budgets of Albanian families for food, money that until now has gone to the state through the 20% VAT.
At the same time, the new Price Display system will be expanded and strengthened to ensure that the significant reduction in the prices of essential goods is protected from major market abuses.
2. We are increasing the standard VAT rate by one percentage point as a fair way of compensating contributions through redistribution.
In other words, for all goods outside the basic basket, we will all contribute to ensuring that essential goods remain an affordable expense for those who struggle most to make ends meet.
3. We are not increasing the corporate profit tax rate, which will remain at 15%, in other words, at the highest level in the region.
Listen carefully: contrary to what corrupt television channels and paid online portals keep telling you, we have taxed large businesses at the highest rate in the Western Balkans for more than ten years.
However, today we are also raising the tax on their dividends to the highest level in the region, increasing it from 8% to 15%.
This will place a fairer tax burden on major business owners’ profits, once again with the aim of easing the burden on those who have less.
4. We are reducing the tax burden for 32,000 taxpayers, a vital part of the middle class who have long been asking for this measure.
I cannot help but smile, because we are raising the upper threshold for the salary income tax bracket from 200,000 to 300,000 new lek.
Until yesterday, the economy did not allow us to take this step. Today, economic growth makes it possible.
5. On the other hand, we are introducing a new salary income tax threshold of 700,000 new lek, above which the tax rate will be 30%, primarily as an instrument to close the loophole used for dividend tax evasion.
6. We are also lowering the VAT registration threshold to businesses with an annual turnover exceeding 5 million lek, because we cannot allow many small businesses to continue being exploited as shell businesses by larger companies seeking to conceal their activities.
This measure should also serve as a warning to businesses with turnover below 5 million lek not to manipulate invoices on behalf of larger companies if they do not want to enter the VAT regime next year.
Meanwhile, our public commitment remains unchanged: zero profit tax for all small businesses until 2029.
7. We are also increasing the VAT rate in the hotel sector from 6% to 10%, excluding agritourism businesses from this increase.
This measure should send a message to hotel owners, who are expected to formalize their operations at a time when their revenues continue to rise year after year.
8. The time has come for a new taxation system for the digital economy, starting with those who make a very good living — and I am very happy about that — through likes and followers, and extending to genuine digital commerce.
The Ministry of Finance is preparing a special draft law for this purpose.
At the same time, work is underway on other laws and decisions introducing additional measures in the same direction: solidarity with those who feel the greatest pressure from rising living costs caused by economic growth and rapid economic development, which naturally creates inequalities that we must work to reduce.
A special higher property tax will be introduced for those who purchase and keep apartments empty while refusing to rent them out.
That is their right, but they must pay, just as is already happening in several other European countries facing rising housing costs.
A special higher property tax will also apply to coastal villas. Their owners must pay more for their properties, while the price of water used for swimming pools will be multiplied.
These measures will be addressed in another law, while this fiscal package will also include a special luxury car tax.
9. Meanwhile, a Specialized Revenue Control Bureau will be established within the Ministry of Finance, as the income declaration form will be changed to follow the format used in European Union countries.
Put more simply, for all individuals with relatively high incomes, the form will closely resemble the asset declaration forms that public officials have been required to complete for years.
10. I have left this measure until last because it is another long-awaited announcement for many people.
Once again, keep in mind that this is not happening simply because the government wants it, or because I want it — we have always wanted it — but because economic growth has made it possible.
We will remove the road tax from the price of diesel, automatically reducing the price at the pump by 32 lek.
Meanwhile, we will shift the tax back to vehicles and collect it through the relevant Road Transport Directorate.
On the other hand, we will introduce a new road tax, as exists throughout Europe, for foreign vehicles entering the territory of the Republic of Albania.
Now allow me to address students specifically.
I have followed you closely over these past weeks and have communicated occasionally with some of you, as well as with lecturers and parents who have written to me or whom I have contacted to learn more.
I want to say from the outset:
The climate of terror created in educational institutions or on your mobile phones by a violent minority against the majority, pressuring students to join protests or boycott classes, is unacceptable.
The boycott of classes by some lecturers is also unacceptable. These are politicized individuals who want to use students as cannon fodder, and this is not the first time they have done so.
Regarding the latter, we will amend the relevant legislation after consulting the forum of university rectors, because freedom and the right to criticize, protest or engage in a lawful strike are one thing, while arbitrariness and coercion against those who want to attend classes are quite another.
But beyond these issues, I want to share some simple truths directly with you, in front of all Albanians.
First, rest assured that I am very aware of the difficulties faced by many of your families, which have been challenged by rising living costs.
This awareness is clearly reflected in the package of relief measures I have just presented.
I am also aware of your challenges, and I certainly do not want to make comparisons with previous generations.
But there is one thing about which I want to be very sincere with you:
I do not speak the language of force, coercion or violence, and I will not negotiate with anyone over European civilization, the Albanian tradition of taking turns when speaking, or the norms of democratic coexistence.
When I was a young lecturer, together with other lecturers and students at the Academy of Arts, I rebelled against a brutal regime precisely because I wanted freedom, not coercion; I wanted free dialogue, not blind violence against every differing opinion.
And following that courageous but peaceful rebellion, which spread throughout the university, the students brought the communist president to the negotiating table, and political pluralism was born from that moment.
Later, when I was the leader of the opposition, I even wrote letters calling for dialogue to my predecessor, who regarded dialogue with an opponent as an act of humiliating submission.
And as prime minister, it was through dialogue that I coordinated the joint effort with students to establish the Pact for the University following the mass protests of 2018.
Even then, it took several weeks for dialogue to begin, because even then, those same troublesome figures among your lecturers — from a blind neo-communist to some blindly partisan Democrats — together with young men and women who followed them like worshippers of false idols, were doing exactly what they are doing today:
“No dialogue! Meet our demands!”
But the problem is that if freedom worked that way, democratic coexistence would cease to exist and would be replaced by survival in the jungle.
So there can be no such thing as:
“Either do as we say, or we will smash and burn everything, and we will not attend classes, but we do not want to be marked absent,” and other demands of this kind.
Come, let us sit down wherever and whenever you want to discuss what you believe we should do more of and what I should do better for you, for the university and for Albania, if you wish.
And please, do not fall any longer for that deceitful theory repeated by those misguided individuals among you who picked up stones and received applause from others on corrupt television channels, claiming that I supposedly did not listen to you during four months of peaceful protests and that violence was therefore the only option left.
In fact, I listened to them more than anyone else, because they were here beneath my window every night while I was working in my office.
But their main message was the same as on the very first day:
“No dialogue! Resign!”
I even memorized their speeches, but I could not identify any vision, ideas or challenging criticism amid that cacophony of resentment and nationalist rhetoric, which must have made the founding figures of the Albanian nation turn in their graves.
Meanwhile, for all of you who may not know what benefits you receive precisely from the Pact for the University, and for others who may fall prey to the charming agitators of Instagram and TikTok, who have an undeniable talent for mockery but no time to examine the calculations, figures and facts, let me list them for you:
60%, or six out of ten students, currently receive at least one form of direct state support thanks to that pact.
4,118 students receive scholarships for outstanding academic performance.
4,648 other students receive scholarships because they come from families in need.
434 excellent students receive a monthly scholarship equivalent to the minimum wage.
10,152 students are completely exempt from university tuition fees.
27,050 other students have 50% of their tuition fees covered by the government.
All this shows that the government provides three-quarters of the funding for public universities.
For example, at the University of Medicine in Tirana, where a group of students have been boycotting classes for two weeks and blocking Durrës Street, preventing others there from working and obstructing the movement of many other people around the city, tuition fees account for less than 20% of the cost per student.
Meanwhile, this government, again thanks to the Pact for the University, covers more than 80% of the cost of medical students’ education, without even counting those who benefit from full tuition exemptions or a 50% reduction in fees.
A small reminder:
The government obtains this money from the contributions of precisely those businesses on Durrës Street that remain closed because of the terror of stone-throwing, from those who transport goods and services along the blocked street, and from all the citizens and businesses of Tirana and Albania who, during these weeks of violence and anarchy, have lost their peace of mind, worked less and generated less income.
Likewise, in Tirana, the fees students pay for dormitories cover less than one-third of the annual cost, without even considering the investments that have been made and will continue to be made to increase dormitory capacity and improve quality.
And, by the way, an additional €100 million for student dormitories has already been negotiated, approved and made available.
Because the Pact for the University is not an Instagram or TikTok post, nor is it a forgotten electoral platform belonging to parties that promise flying carpets because they know they will never be able to fly as far as the moon.
It is our agreement with the university and the students of 2018, thanks to whom you are also benefiting today.
Meanwhile, if you want us to review the Pact and leave your own mark for the students who come after you, you are welcome to do so through dialogue, civility and patience.
I am always available at the place and time you yourselves may choose.
On the other hand, the good news we have for you, which also comes from economic growth like all today’s announcements, is that scholarships for all students from economically disadvantaged families will increase by an additional 15,000 new lek.
This will bring them to 25,000 lek, practically equivalent to half the minimum wage, and the benefit will also be extended to master’s degree students.
Meanwhile, in the new housing law, which is already before Parliament, we have included additional relief measures for students and young couples, ranging from government co-financed rents to loans with zero or just 3% interest, depending on the criteria and conditions established by law.
We will also introduce a new measure regarding internships, requiring businesses, according to a specific formula, to employ students at half the minimum wage.
One final point for today regarding students.
In the coming days, we will open a digital platform for dialogue, which will serve all those who want to engage in dialogue with me but are afraid.
Afraid in the year 2027.
Afraid, while on the other hand claiming that you can take control of Albania; afraid to exercise your right to speak freely.
Nevertheless, for all those who fear online aggressors, this platform will allow me and my colleagues to listen to as many students as possible and gather as many opinions as possible.
Friends,
Albania is far too small to become an arena for primitive quarrels, while the further growth of our economy and the creation of new opportunities to redistribute more income from that growth require stability, security, peace and work, work, work.
Effort, effort, effort.
Perseverance, perseverance, perseverance!
The prolongation of the flamingos’ protest by all kinds of crows and ravens, hungry for conflict, power, social and religious division, destabilization and revenge against Albania’s international success, damaged tourism and reduced the revenue we could otherwise have generated during the summer season and redistributed.
These explosions and violent disturbances of recent weeks have no chance of removing the government.
But they have damaged the economy and Albania itself, which for the past two weeks has been exporting images that drive tourists away rather than attract them; that drive investors away rather than attract them; that drive money out of the country rather than bring it in.
And for what?
Whose interests could possibly justify this blind struggle?
As I said, I do not want to return today to those who are at the forefront, inside or behind this dirty mishmash.
But one thing is certain:
This blind struggle brings nothing good to Albania and does not protect those who live and want to continue living in this country through honest work.
On the contrary, it harms them all.
Those who raise children and want their children to grow up here, in a shared home that is much better for everyone.
I am here for them, and this government and this governing majority will remain here for them until the final day of our mandate.
The others have me, and will continue to have me, standing opposite them — ready for dialogue whenever and wherever they want, and ready to uphold the force of the law and the norms of democratic coexistence whenever they make the mistake of challenging the law and democratic order of this country.
Sometimes the state may be slow to act, but the state never forgets!
And I am neither a blogger nor an influencer.
It is neither my duty to be liked nor my need to collect likes.
My duty is to lead Albania toward its historic objective: a seat at the European Union table.
That is why I will not stop, we will not stop, they will not stop me, and no one will be able to stop us.
Who are we?
We are the majority of Albanians!
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