Images of clashes, fires and destruction in France, Italy, Belgium and Albania share a common denominator: the protest risks losing the voice of citizens and taking on the face of those who destroy. In Milan, robberies and fires by masked individuals have been reported; in Brussels, clashes with police; while in France the violence also included attacks on journalists documenting the events.
Dissatisfaction has reasons that governments must listen to. The cost of living, difficulties in education and uncertainty about the future are not resolved by ignoring citizens. But what response does poverty get from the robbery of a shop? How is the university improved by burning public property? What justice is produced by attacking a journalist?
The one who destroys in the name of protest holds the message hostage. Instead of the public discussing the demands of students and workers, it discusses burned cars, damaged businesses and injured people. The cause moves away from the center of attention; violence takes its place.
Tirana too is paying this bill. Clashes and damage to public and private property have worsened the situation. The law must act against everyone who violates it, regardless of which side of the cordon they belong to.
The similarity of images in several countries raises questions, but it does not by itself prove a common center of organization or a foreign hand. For these, evidence is needed. What can be judged immediately is the action: whoever burns, robs or injures must bear individual responsibility. A mask cannot serve as shelter from the law, nor presence at a protest as permission for destruction.
Governments, on the other hand, cannot use the violence of a few individuals to close their ears to thousands of peaceful citizens. Restoring order is an immediate duty; solving the problems that produce anger is a daily political duty.
For Albania the message must be clear: citizens have the right to protest loudly, but the state has the obligation to protect this right and to stop violence by lawful means.
The road cannot be left to those who burn. It belongs equally to citizens who protest, to those who work, and to those who seek to live safely. No one earns the right to destroy another’s life by declaring that they are fighting for a better life.
In Italy (photos)
In France (photos)
In Tirana (photos)
In Belgium (photos)
