Dear fellow citizens,

I wish you a peaceful Sunday, following another wave of violence in central Tirana last night, when the Democratic Party emerged from behind the scenes to take its place at the forefront of urban violence, and its headquarters became a political refuge and a supply point for explosive materials for the perpetrators gathered last night from all quarters and every source of this antidemocratic scourge.

Rest assured that we will put an end to this man-made scourge too.

On the one hand, through patience and determination in confronting the perpetrators, who have no chance of imposing on Albania the rotten concoction of a senile old man who has reduced the Democratic Party to a front for violence, of Antifa extremists who glorify violence throughout Europe, and of foreign forces that do not want Albania in the European Union and encourage the masked individuals who claim to represent students but, in fact, represent organised crime more than they represent students.

And on the other hand, by addressing the legitimate demands of ordinary people in this country, who rightly expect a fairer distribution of the income generated by economic growth and stronger guarantees that merit will determine their opportunities at work.

The draft budget for 2027, which we will present early in the week, introduces a range of positive new measures specifically for ordinary families, services for citizens,  young people and students alike.

Meanwhile, following intensive work with European experts, in close coordination with our Italian and French partners, drawing on the model they have recently adopted in confronting the same antidemocratic scourge, and also on the case law of the European Court, we have prepared the legislative package of measures against violence and urban anarchy.

This legislative package rests on a very clear principle: peaceful protest is protected, violence is punished, and those who cause damage pay for it.

Every proposed measure has been aligned with Article 47 of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the case law of the Strasbourg Court, and the Venice Commission and ODIHR Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly.

Responsibility is always individual, any restrictive measures are temporary and reasoned, and every significant restriction is subject to judicial review.

The package comprises six complementary instruments.

A normative act providing immediate compensation for small businesses, a special law on compensation for damage, amendments to the Law on Assemblies, a Special Electronic Register of perpetrators of urban violence, an amendment to the Code of Ethics for teachers, and proposed amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Albania.

The first instrument: a normative act providing immediate compensation for small businesses.

This act provides immediate financial support for those affected by vandalism, looting and fire.

Under this act, the state will cover material damage ranging from 100% for the smallest businesses to a minimum of 70% for the larger ones, based on clearly defined criteria and, in all cases, limited to businesses with an annual turnover of up to €140,000.

Businesses that have already submitted their applications, together with documentation of the damage, to the General Directorate of Taxes will therefore not have to wait years for court proceedings to obtain compensation.

At the same time, those involved in these acts, who smashed, destroyed, burned and damaged businesses, and whose arrests the courts have found lawful, will each pay their share of the fine for the damage caused.

Where damage has been caused by minors, responsibility for covering their share passes to their parents.

The second instrument: a new law based on the French model, “You break it, you pay for it.”

While the normative act addresses damage caused in the recent past, the new law we have drafted on “compensation for damage caused by acts of violence and damage to property during assemblies” establishes a lasting framework for the future, based on the simple principle that those who cause damage must pay for it. The burden will no longer fall exclusively on taxpayers and the state budget, as it has until now.

The law applies to all assemblies in public places, whether notified, prohibited or spontaneous, including sporting, cultural and festive gatherings that result in material damage to property.

Of course, and without any question, no one pays for damage simply because they have protested or been present at a gathering of any kind.

Liability for the damage caused arises solely from the individual’s own conduct. This law does not restrict freedom of assembly or expression. At the same time, however, anyone who takes part in a violent assembly and fails to leave after police warnings will be held financially liable.

In other words, anyone who chooses to remain in a crowd or group, knowing that stones are being thrown, fires are being set, and property is being smashed and destroyed around them, will face an administrative fine alongside those committing the violent acts. The fine will be up to 500,000 lek.

Journalists, medical personnel, observers, officials on duty and incidental passers-by are, of course, exempt from this rule.

Where minors over the age of 14 participate in a violent protest, the fine will be paid by their parents or guardian, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code. This fine constitutes an immediately enforceable order.

The third instrument: amendments to the Law on Assemblies.

The Law on Assemblies dates back to 2001 and makes no provision for digital technologies, which have now become a fundamental component of protests.

The amendments give the police preventive powers in public places and around sensitive sites, the ability to respond to calls for violence on social media, and the possibility of imposing sanctions. The current sanctions are symbolic compared with the measures other European countries have taken and are taking in response to this new reality of violence and urban anarchy.

Specifically:

Security perimeters around sensitive sites.

Where there is a real and imminent risk of violence, the police may restrict assemblies for up to 72 hours within a defined perimeter around educational, healthcare and state institutions, places of worship and cultural heritage sites.

Calls for violence on social media.

When the police identify a call for violence in connection with an assembly, they will notify the account holder to remove the post immediately and refrain from posting such content again, also offering psychological support where needed.

If the post is not removed or the conduct is repeated, the police will act under the legislation in force, including by pursuing criminal proceedings under existing offences and those proposed for inclusion in the Criminal Code in line with new European standards.

Identifying masked individuals.

Under the existing law, concealing one’s identity during a protest is already prohibited. However, we will incorporate this prohibition into the Criminal Code as a criminal offence equivalent to that in 27 European countries, following the French model.

Proposed sanctions.

In no democratic country in the European Union is a group or crowd allowed to exercise the freedom to protest arbitrarily, denying others their freedom to move around the city and disrupting their work, schooling and daily plans.

Participation in an unauthorised assembly and failure to comply with calls to leave will carry a fine of between 10,000 and 100,000 lek for each participant. Failure to comply with an order to disperse and concealing one’s identity will carry fines of up to 500,000 lek for each participant. Obstructing traffic will carry a fine of 5,000 lek for each participant.

Fourth: the Special Electronic Register.

A decision of the Council of Ministers will establish a Special Electronic Register of individuals referred to the prosecuting authorities or under investigation for criminal offences against the state, public order and public safety.

The register will be administered by the State Police and will contain these individuals’ identification details.

On the basis of this register, the Border and Migration Police will exercise, in respect of each perpetrator of violence, the power granted under Law No. 39/2025 on State Border Control to refuse departure from the country to individuals seeking to evade prosecution, detention, arrest or the enforcement of a prison sentence for these offences.

The decision also provides for notifying the foreign authorities of the countries to which the individual travels, as well as domestic and foreign accommodation providers, of the risk that the individual poses to public safety and order. Airlines, maritime carriers and railway operators will also be notified.

Every perpetrator of violence should be in no doubt, whether they live in Tirana or are like those in white shirts and masks who arrived yesterday from Spain as paid mercenaries to commit violence and were flexing their muscles on the street by the Ministry of Education: anyone who commits violence in Albania will face serious difficulties returning to Europe or remaining there undisturbed before first answering to justice here in Tirana.

Fifth: the Code of Ethics for teachers in pre-university education.

Schools must remain safe spaces for children. The Code of Ethics will provide that no teacher may use their authority to take children under 18 to gatherings of any kind contrary to their interests and their parents’ expectations.

Teachers will be suspended or dismissed if they exploit the authority of their public role or profession to encourage, organise or coordinate the participation of pupils under 18 in gatherings contrary to the best interests of the child.

Naturally, this measure does not affect teachers’ right to express their views or to protest themselves. It prohibits only the use of the teacher-pupil relationship to bring children along in support of adults’ causes.

Sixth: amendments to the Criminal Code.

The amendments to the Criminal Code follow best practices in EU countries, particularly France and Italy, and are grounded in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

These provisions punish violence, incitement to violence, threats and stalking, whether in public spaces or through social media. They expressly exclude peaceful protest, political criticism, satire and journalism from punishment.

Violence during assemblies.

Remaining amid violence after warnings: criminal penalties will apply only to those who continue to remain at an assembly after police warnings, knowing that violence is taking place or property is being damaged. Organising an assembly prohibited by a lawful decision will also be punishable. Anyone caught carrying weapons or other dangerous objects will face up to two years in prison.

Wearing a mask to commit violence. Concealing one’s face will constitute a criminal offence only where violence is taking place at an assembly or there is a concrete risk of violence. It will be punishable by a fine or up to six months in prison. No penalty will apply to those who cover their faces for health, religious or professional reasons, or to those who uncover their faces as soon as they hear the police order.

Destruction of property during assemblies. This will carry heavier penalties than at present, with penalties increased up to twofold where the damage affects schools, institutions, public services or cultural monuments.

Violence committed with a concealed face. The penalty for assaulting police officers or citizens will increase by up to one third when the perpetrator is masked.

Incitement to violence, including on social media. This is a new criminal offence. Anyone who publicly calls, including through social media, for violence, looting or destruction during an assembly will be punished where that call creates a real and imminent risk.

Heavier penalties will apply where the call is directed at children or where violence follows.

Calls to protest, political criticism and journalism will under no circumstances be punishable.

Protecting every citizen from threats and stalking, including online. Threats made online or in public will be covered by a broader criminal offence. At present, the Criminal Code punishes online threats only when they are motivated by ethnic, racial or religious considerations.

Online stalking and the “right to a normal life” will be addressed through a new offence covering persistent threatening messages and monitoring someone’s location, as well as following or persistently filming a person near their home, at work or in their daily life, where this forces them to change the way they live.

Publishing someone’s address to put them at risk will also be punishable. Anyone who publishes information that encourages or enables others to locate a person or their family in order to expose them to attacks will be liable under the law.

Creating videos falsified using artificial intelligence and distributing them without consent, using a person’s manipulated image or voice, will become a criminal offence where they mislead the public and cause harm to that person.

Satire and parody clearly identified as such will not be punishable.

Protecting members of parliament, officials and public figures. Threats against officials and their families, and threats against public figures and their families, constitute criminal offences. They will also be protected against online threats, with heavier penalties prescribed.

Blackmail and pressure intended to influence decisions. Anyone who personally threatens, assaults or blackmails a member of parliament to compel them to vote a particular way, a public official to make or refrain from making a decision, or a public figure to do or refrain from doing something will be punished.

Criticism, protests and petitions do not fall within this provision and will not be punishable.

Protecting children. Negligently endangering a child: a parent, guardian, teacher or childcare worker who leaves a child under 14 unsupervised in circumstances posing a real risk to their life or health will be held responsible. The penalty will vary according to the consequences, reaching up to ten years if the child loses their life, God forbid. The court may reduce the sentence where the parent has themselves lost their child.

Dear friends,

This package contains no improvised, so-called Albanian-style inventions. Not one of its provisions or articles conflicts with the freedoms and rights of the citizens of the Republic of Albania. On the contrary, in both its spirit and its letter, this package embodies a very simple truth:

Each person’s freedom ends where the freedom of others begins, and everyone’s rights stop where they infringe upon the rights of others.

Anyone who dislikes the government or wants me out of office, not today but yesterday, is free and entitled to think it, say it, campaign for it and turn that demand into a protest.

Up to that point, it is my duty and the government’s duty to ensure that anyone who wants a different government and a different prime minister can protest without any pressure.

More than that, I am willing to sit down and listen to anyone who wants to express their opposition to me face to face and put forward demands they believe the government should consider. Because I believe that those demanding my resignation are wrong to think they can force it through violence or by any other means, but I do not believe that everything they say or demand is wrong.

Beyond that boundary, however, I have a duty to protect the country and its people from any attempt to take Albania backwards, while the state has a duty to put anyone who attacks public or private property and threatens public order and safety firmly in their place.

This is our legal and institutional response to the violence and urban anarchy fuelled in recent days by all manner of malign forces and perpetrated by a mob of violent individuals. All of Albania can now see who brings them into central Tirana, encouraging, paying and orchestrating them, not to build a better Albania, but to turn Albania back once again from the path towards fulfilling our historic pledge, precisely when we are closer than ever to our destination and when the flag of Skanderbeg and Ismail Qemali has been raised higher than ever before.

But this time they will not succeed, because those who smash, burn and destroy central Tirana and terrorise Albania through corrupt television channels are not the Albanian people. They represent neither the majority nor the minority of Albania’s people. The latter may oppose the government, but it will never support violence and destruction.

For the majority who have given me the mandate to lead Albania, and for the minority who did not vote for me but, like the majority, expect a fairer distribution of the income generated by economic growth, I will speak early in the week about the positive new measures in the draft budget for 2027, as soon as we approve it in government. That way, everyone will be clear that what I share with you will be concrete decisions, rather than simply words or pledges.

Patience and courage. It seems we had to get through this too, because not everyone wants Albania to succeed or to enjoy peace and security. This is their last attempt before we seal the final page in the history of Albania’s accession to the European Union. They make a great deal of noise. Their chances are zero.

Thank you, and never forget: whether you voted for me or not, I have not betrayed the mission for which the majority of Albania and Albanians placed their trust in me. And I will never betray the trust of any Albanian who wants a better Albania and wants to see the flag of Ismail Qemali and Skanderbeg alongside the flags of the other member states of the European Union.