TIRANA, Oct 28 /ATA/- The government will launch a digital platform in the coming days to gather students’ views and enable dialogue with those reluctant to speak publicly, Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Wednesday, as he defended his government’s handling of recent protests in Tirana.
In a message to students, Rama said the platform would allow him and his colleagues to hear a wider range of opinions, including from those who feared online harassment.
“We will open a digital window for dialogue in the coming days, serving all those who want to talk to me but are afraid – afraid in 2027 of exercising their right to speak freely,” Rama said.
He called for stability and continued economic growth, arguing that prolonged protests had damaged tourism and discouraged investment.
“Albania is too small to become an arena for primitive disputes,” he said, adding that economic development and the creation of new opportunities to redistribute income required stability, security, calm and hard work.
Rama said the continuation of protests, which he referred to as the “Flamingo” demonstrations, had cost the country tourism revenue and tarnished its international image.
“For two weeks, Albania has been exporting images that do not attract tourists but drive them away; that do not attract investors but deter them; that do not bring money into the country but drive it out,” he said, questioning whose interests the protests served.
Rama insisted the demonstrations would not bring down his government but had harmed the economy and the country as a whole. He said his government would remain in office until the end of its mandate.
The prime minister said he remained open to dialogue with his opponents but warned that violations of the law and democratic order would be met with legal action.
“Sometimes the state is slow, but it never forgets,” Rama said, adding that his priority was to lead Albania towards its “historic goal” of joining the European Union.
“No one will stop me, and no one will be able to stop us,” he said, adding that his government represented the majority of Albanians.
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