Police in Albania using water cannons as the protests against Trump linked resort escalate

Written by journalist Danylo Aleksandrov

On Thursday the protests in Albania have escalated, leading to clashes between the protesters and the police outside the country’s parliament. People are continuing to protest against a resort project connected to Trump’s family.

People gathered outside the Albanian parliament in the capital of Tirana to express their discontent to the MP and block their access to the building itself. Opposing them was the local law enforcement in riot equipment who met the protesters and pushed them away from the parliament.

Local journalists reported that police used force and other measures, such as the water cannons and pepper spray. Clashes began after some protesters tried to get through the line held by police, to which the law enforcement replied with attempts to break up the crowd.

According to the police 9 police officers were injured as a result of protesters throwing projectiles. They gave no comment about the number of people arrested. Previously on Tuesday 6 protesters were detained after throwing eggs at the car transporting the lawmakers.

The current escalation is different from the previous protests. Demonstrations began in late May after barbed wire and fenced appeared on the territory where the luxury resort project would be built.

The project sparked outrage among Albanians for several reasons. One of them is that the project would occupy protected land, and construction work might severely hurt the local environment. The other reason is that it seems that the project was approved without related procedures, which can be explained by the fact that it is managed by a company connected to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

While demonstrations began with the aim of canceling the resort construction, a part of the protesters now call for the resignation of country’s PM Edi Rama and his government. Rama dismissed the protests as coordinated action against him by his political opponents, remaining optimistic about the project.