Albania Protesters Vent Their Fury on Bunker

An announced peaceful protest by opposition parties on the 25th anniversary of the first anti-communist protest in Albania turned into a violent rally against state institutions and landmarks on Tuesday.

The protest, led by the centre-right Democratic Party, ended in a symbolic bunker built for tourist purposes in the middle of the ministerial complex in Tirana being set on fire and wrecked.

The attack on the bunker took place after the head of a group called the National Union of Formerly Persecuted People, Besim Ndregjoni, called on protesters to demolish it.

Opposition Democratic Party chief Lulzim Basha reportedly watched them doing so and made no attempt to stop the attack.

Police decided not to intervene while the landmark was being destroyed to avoid further violence.

Protesters meanwhile pelted the Interior, Transport and Tourism ministries with stones.

The protest started to slip into violence after the demonstrators gathered in front of the government building and started to throw smoke bombs, stones and bottles.

Prime Minister, Edi Rama, said that he felt disgusted with the eruption of violence, which he said had nothing to do with the events of a quarter of a century ago.

"This has nothing to do with the protest of young Albanian people 25 years ago that destroyed a system [communism] without breaking a window," Rama, leader of the governing Socialist Party, said.

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