Analyst Skënder Minxhozi has drawn a distinction between the student protests in Serbia and those in Tirana, questioning the organization, participation and objectives of the protesters in the Albanian capital. “The students had a political project and challenged Aleksandar Vučić, while the squares were filled with them,” the analyst said, describing the situation in the Albanian capital differently. Minxhozi described the protest in Tirana as a “square spectacle”, arguing that there is no clear identification of the organizers and no concrete definition of what this movement demands.
Another element that makes the reality in the two countries different is the political context. The analyst described as a coincidence the fact that elections in Serbia are taking place in a climate of protests, while political opponents in Albania are accompanied by expectations of a scenario similar to the Serbian one. “The opposition sees mirages, since Vučić left in this way, Edi Rama should leave too”, Minxhozi stated on Abc News, rejecting the idea that developments in Serbia could automatically be repeated in Albania.
He also questioned the number of participants in the Tirana protests, comparing it with the number of students and high school students in the country, as well as with the population of the capital. “There are 100 thousand registered students and high school students. Where are they? We have a city of 600 thousand inhabitants?”, the analyst asked, casting doubt on claims of broad citizen mobilization.
In conclusion, Minxhozi stressed that, in his view, the lack of an articulated political project and the participation that he considers limited make the comparison between the protests in Serbia and those in Tirana inappropriate. “Why do you declare a national protest as an opposition, when not even 3 or 4 thousand people show up? Where is the parallel here?”, he concluded.