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#balkans — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #balkans, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    What’s Happening in Albania? 🇦🇱 Why the Country Is Protesting

    The fellow runs a language-learning channel and is based in Pogradec, Albania's 11th largest city (in the southeast, near the North Macedonian border).

    He goes into the student aspect of this protest (which was catalyzed back in late May due to corruption in awarding developers permission and corruption in land claims resulting in takeover of public lands, but snowballed into just about every issue that's been going on for 30 years or more).







    youtube.com/watch?v=GdOfmimSefc

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  2. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    Tear gas, water cannons, renewed breach of the Ministry of Finance.








    youtube.com/watch?v=mXFJZK3MNeA

    #bikenite #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption
  3. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    Cycle racks now pulled out (not hard to do...they were bolted or just on the pavement instead of sunk in concrete) and used as barricades.








    youtube.com/watch?v=mXFJZK3MNeA

    #bikenite #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption
  4. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    Machine translation: "State police withdraw; an officer tears up as students urge them to join their side against this regime."

    Tërhiqet policia e shtetit,përlotet teksa studentët i‘u kërkojnë të bëhen me ta kundër këtij regjimi

    Albanian cops are not paid much. While there is ACAB graffiti and some folks definitely feel that way, there are others who are trying to turn the cops by reminding them how little they are paid.

    It's error-prone, but you can use auto-translate on captions to figure out the gist of the report.







    youtube.com/watch?v=k0CX5NwETwc

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  5. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    Before going to commercial break, the News24 reporter was interviewing med students who'd set up a booth for street medicine near a café slightly off the main road (in a pedestrianized area).

    There was a call online this week for med students to join in creating areas to do this. Though the cops have used tear gas on protestors for months now, I think this is the first I've seen some organized medical response (via this livestream).








    youtube.com/watch?v=mXFJZK3MNeA

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  6. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    Students in Tirana have started marching. According to auto-translate captions of the reportage, they are heading to Rruga E Durrësit again.

    Drivers are honking in support.







    youtube.com/watch?v=mXFJZK3MNeA

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  7. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    News 24 Albania continues with its live coverage.

    They showed live video of students protesting in Lezhë and Gramsh, Albania today.

    In Tirana, coverage is on the courthouse where the first 16 protestors arrested were charged. A defense lawyer is now giving a press conference outside. He says at least 7 protestors are currently in the Trauma Hospital with signs of violence to their faces and bodies. Another defense lawyer is saying the judge is basically rubber stamping whatever the prosecutors want.

    Other coverage shows police deploying outside one of the high schools that was most active in the boycott/protest.

    The reporter did not say this, but the impression I get from coverage today is that where the kids are less controllable by the state, they are able to be gotten at by putting pressure on parents and that is what is likely going on.

    youtube.com/watch?v=mXFJZK3MNeA







    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  8. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    The nightly Flamingo Revolution march didn't happen over the last 3 days because clearly protest was going on elsewhere. If there is no massing of students today, will the nightly march down the road the Prime Minister's office and other ministries are on pick up again? This remains to be seen.

    The last couple days reinvigorated international and domestic interest in the Flamingo Revolution, but opinion is likely more divided now.







    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  9. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    🔴Revolta studentore në ditën e katërt -: Çfarë po ndodh në Tiranë dhe në rrethe

    "Student Uprising Enters Day Four – What Is Happening in Tirana and the Regions"

    There is no mass gathering of students so far in Tirana. There was video elsewhere on this channel of students in some other Albanian cities, but they could have been from yesterday.

    Police are stationed in a line outside Partizani high school in Tirana. The reporter is trying to ask them questions and also the cops seem to be questioning an adult who is standing outside. The campuses are not large so it's quite possible to just walk on the sidewalk and get questioned.

    They might be going to asking for ID of any adults around schools to make sure they "have business" at the school. The police are also trying to make the reporter back off.







    youtube.com/watch?v=mXFJZK3MNeA

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  10. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    You can use auto-translate captions to get the gist of the report.

    "The fate of the protest hero who stood up to the police / Lala: The Tirana Prosecutor's Office is expected to..."

    Ja fati i heroit te protestes që i bëri ballë policëve/ Lala: Prokuroria e Tiranes pritet të ...

    They arrested 16 protestors on October 13, the first day that the Flamingo Revolution took a turn. The parents of the arrested students are waiting outside the criminal court for word.

    These are just the first protestors they've gone after who've gotten to this stage at court. The government will surely try to arrest more.







    youtube.com/watch?v=ue6CiRjkYOE

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  11. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    This is Reuters' bureau chief for Greece "and the Balkans", who is based in Athens.

    While he's not wrong that protestors are angry, he mentions the tear gas and water cannons as if they were only recent. They're not.

    Going back some months, the cops have geared up with water cannon trucks, tear gas, night sticks, and "blue water" when the protestors were doing nothing more "violent" than egging the cars of MPs as they drove in their shiny luxury SUVs into the Parliament parking.

    It's always worth questioning when you see foreign reports on a country - where are the in-country journalists and why are they not leading the on-camera coverage?

    What is correct is "cat & mouse". Since the very young students who started recent things don't have stategists to speak of, things happen on the fly and it catches cops with their pants down. The students can change faster than the cops.







    youtube.com/shorts/lzntAobWQ14

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  12. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    I usually link to the News 24 Albania/Balkanweb livestreams because they are covering it even on nights no one else is. But since things got more "clickbaity" for international media, AP and Reuters have added livecams.

    If you use a live translation app on the Balkanweb stream, you can learn more details from better-informed Albanian reporters, so I recommend those first.

    But you can see different angles from the AP: youtube.com/watch?v=lWWB13t4_Uk

    and

    Reuters youtube.com/watch?v=UH4D9_byzVI







    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  13. Megan Lynch (she/her) @meganl

    Police and protesters face off in Albania on third day of anti-govt demonstrations • FRANCE 24







    youtube.com/watch?v=pKpN_XG-dGk

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  14. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    Oct 14, 2026 story by Albanian journalists:

    Student protest begins with boycott

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    citizens.al/en/2026/10/14/Stud

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  15. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    Rama says he will not resign as violent protests spread to other cities

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    exit.al/en/exit-explains/rama-

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  16. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    Albanian PM Blames Opposition After Another Night of Violent Clashes

    Edi Rama accuses opposition of trying to 'pull Albania down' after a second night of violence saw government buildings and businesses attacked and set on fire amid clashes between student protesters and police.

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    balkaninsight.com/2026/10/15/a

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  17. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    According to reporters, the protestors got together around 8am this morning in Tirana (whereas yesterday the called-for assembly that escalated was started at noon). Students boycott classes in Tirana (not just universities but many high schools).

    I've heard reporters mention student protests in the main port city of Durrës as well as the northern border city of Shkodër and the coastal city of Vlorë (which is near the protected area that the #FlamingoRevolution was catalyzed by). Also Lushnje, Korçe... Not sure how many cities, but this is quite a lot at the same time and we haven't seen that happen since the earlier days of the Flamingo Revolution.

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=O77b_Z3bWW8

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  18. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    The largely young and male group of protestors is out again this morning.

    EDIT: There are girls out as well. Initial live video was focusing on groups of young men. There are students massing from all over. And reportedly student in the port city of Durrës are also boycotting classes and protesting.

    The Parliamentary session has been canceled.

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=O77b_Z3bWW8

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  19. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    Albania protests turn violent as students clash with police in Tirana | DW News

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=8Ckj62OYVfA

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  20. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    With machine translation of the livecast, I hear the reporter on site saying (paraphrased):

    "They protested peacefully for 135 days and were not heard."

    Yesterday they breached the Ministry of Education and today the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Interior, and started getting into the Prime Minister's office.

    EDIT: And now they've marched to another street and are breaking the windows and lighting up the Ministry of Justice.

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=IX5-V9bI_MI

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  21. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    The protestors breached another government building. I'm not sure which one. It might be the Prime Minister's office.

    They banged at the doors repeatedly until they breached them and then someone set things afire.

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=IX5-V9bI_MI

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  22. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    Outside a government building:

    The reporter is wearing a full face respirator but still is feeling the force of how much tear gas has been deployed.

    There are 3 water cannon trucks being used on protestors (not on fires).

    Just about anything usable by protestors is being uprooted. The cement planters protecting the cycle lanes have been overturned into the street to make it harder for the cops to get through.

    Protestors try to kick or throw back the tear gas cannisters.

    The protestors have superior numbers and this is probably the only thing semi-protecting them right now.

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=IX5-V9bI_MI

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  23. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    A largely young male crowd of protestors broke into the Finance Ministry, dragged tables, chairs and more out onto the steps to start a bonfire. Someone started a fire on pipe cladding on the outside of the building.

    Sidewalk tiles are broken into pieces to make ammo for throwing through windows and at riot cops/Special Forces, who have been using water cannons, tear gas, chemical irritant liquid (blue water), and more since yesterday.

    UK embassy mssg: that there's a right to peaceful protest, but it doesn't include property damage. Thanks, UK. Did you speak up against the corruption they've been protesting since late May?

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=IX5-V9bI_MI

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  24. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    They've broken into the Finance Ministry. Windows are being broken, tables and chairs brought out. And a fire is going along some pipe cladding on its side.

    It's in the neighborhood with Parliament and the Prime Minister's office.

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=IX5-V9bI_MI

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  25. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    Revolta tashmë në një rrugë pa kthim, studentët ballë për ballë me flakët, zjarrfikësja nuk ndërhyn

    Machine translated: "The uprising has reached a point of no return; students are face-to-face with the flames, yet the fire department is not intervening."

    Hard for me to tell exactly who did what here. From previous comments from Albanians in protests, it is a tactic of the cops to have plainclothes cops get inside the protest to try to start shit, then get the protest to go in a direction they have an excuse to put down harshly.

    But at largely young male protests, you can also have things go off the rails.

    The building that's on fire is a small retail building, but it's next to the Apostolic Nunciature to Albania (Papal Embassy) and to an apartment building with retail on the bottom.

    You don't see a lot of religious hatred in Albania so I deeply doubt that was a target.

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=cBKukT3Z8QY

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  26. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    The News 24 reporter, not for the first time, is reporting that the cops are not just using plain water with the water cannon. They are using water with a chemical irritant as well. This happened some time ago as well with protests near Toptani.

    So far as I know, no journalistic outlet has looked into this and commissioned an independent lab to analyze to see what's being used.

    The News 24 reporter Ronaldo Saliani got hit with some of those chemicals as well and was coughing while trying to report it.

    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=IX5-V9bI_MI

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  27. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    "LIVE: Albanian students protest over education costs "

    Despite the Reuters headline, this is not completely separate from the #FlamingoRevolution. They're using the same chants that have been used since late May.

    Yes, it's a protest about schools, but it's an anti-corruption protest because it is corruption that makes the schools full of graft and low quality, it's the corruption that makes job prospects dire and for decades have made it so that young Albanians leave to work in the UK, EU, US, Australia, etc. and send $ home to their families.

    The Kushner development was just the catalyst that lit the anger over decades of this corruption.

    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=i_x9QLmN4og

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  28. Megan Lynch (she/her) @[email protected]

    Day 137 of anti-corruption protest in Tirana

    For the past 48 hrs, focus has shifted to highlight issues youth are experiencing. Yesterday, they protested outside the Ministry of Education. Today they boycotted university classes all over Tirana and are back in front of the Ministry of Education making street barricades.

    #FlamingoRevolution
    #Albania
    #Corruption
    #Balkans
    #Europe
    #Students
    #Protest

    youtube.com/watch?v=Cie4f2Kao4Q

    #protest #students #europe #balkans #corruption #albania
  29. Bytes Europe @[email protected]

    Bosnia votes: Becirovic wins presidency, SDA leads among public byteseu.com/2449341/ #BakirIzetbegovic #BALKANS #Bosnia #BosniaAndHerzegovina #BosniaHerzegovina #BosnianElections #Herzegovina #SDA

    #sda #herzegovina #bosnianelections #bosniaherzegovina #bosniaandherzegovina #bosnia
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