RAMA REFUSES TO RESIGN

TIRNA, OCTOBER 18 /SRNA-Reuters/ - Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has rejected calls for his resignation amid growing street protests, saying they threaten not his government but Albania’s progress toward EU membership.

"This is not about me. The government is not in question, nor is the governing majority or the party that won the election. What is in question is the path, the mission," Rama said in a live address on Facebook.

He added that "Albanians must think carefully about whether they want this, that, or the EU."

As Rama spoke, excavators were digging up and removing the pavement outside his office in central Tirana, as a new wave of protests was expected.

Student demonstrations, fueled by anger over alleged government corruption, a lack of jobs and the poor state of the education system, have swept through central Tirana and spread to other cities.

Demonstrators demanding Rama’s resignation set fire to government buildings and banks and threw stones at police, who responded with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets.

Corruption scandals have tarnished Albania’s reputation for years, and analysts say the country is a hub for gangs seeking to launder money from drug and arms trafficking.