Clashes inside the chamber

Tensions spilled from the streets into the Albanian parliament in Tirana on Thursday, 22 October, when government and opposition MPs came to blows during a sitting. According to Albanian outlets, MPs of Sali Berisha's Democratic Party shouted slogans against the government, threw water and overturned benches. The tension escalated when Democratic Party MP Flamur Noka took the microphone away from Taulant Balla, leader of the Socialist parliamentary group, and the session was announced as interrupted. A second physical clash followed. According to Vox News, opposition MP Fidel Kreka pushed Erwin Hoxha, a Socialist MP and former interior minister, and struck him with a copy of the Constitution he was holding. Other MPs moved in to separate the men. Balla responded on social media by posting a photo of his injured finger and accused the opposition and Berisha of responsibility for the tension. The sitting resumed later under strained conditions, and images from inside the chamber circulated in Albanian media.

Protests outside parliament

Protesters called for a new gathering outside parliament at 10:00 local time on Thursday to stop MPs from entering for the session, on the 10th day of demonstrations. Students, pupils and university staff have joined the protests in Tirana. Prime Minister Edi Rama has now appealed for dialogue for a third day running. Outside an office on Thursday, stone benches that students had used as barricades were placed with a sheet of paper reading 'Dialogue', after protesters had destroyed the dialogue chairs over the previous two days in response to his call. The session of the previous Thursday, 15 October, had been postponed because of violent incidents. The Democratic Party has filed an urgent interpellation to Interior Minister Erwin Demo over the protests and the police reaction.

Night violence and a return to calm

Small groups of hooded people reappeared on Martyrs of the Nation Boulevard on the night of 21 October, throwing Molotov cocktails around the prime minister's office and near businesses close to the Twin Towers in Tirana. Stone throwing with police followed, and officers used water cannon to disperse the crowds. Strong police units remained on alert, as the situation was still described as tense. Kathimerini reported that the night followed hours of calm without incidents. Banks reopened from 21 October, and businesses that had closed their shutters because of damage and arson during the first days of the protests were also reopening.

Diplomacy and the Berlin Process summit

President Bajram Begaj reportedly held separate meetings with the ambassadors of the United States and EU member states, according to diplomatic sources, but the content of those talks has not been disclosed. Prime Minister Edi Rama left on the night of 21 October for Montenegro to attend the leaders' conference of the Berlin Process. There, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz commented on the mobilizations in Albania and the wider region, stressing that violence is not a solution and that EU enlargement must continue. Parliament sat in Tirana on the same day the summit was held in Montenegro.