December 8 has been announced as “National Youth Day”. Since 2009, with a decision taken by the Parliament of Albania, this date is commemorated as a national holiday in honor of all the students of December 1990 and all Albanian youth. On December 8, 1990, the first student protest broke out in the city “Studenti”. The students demanded the improvement of the living conditions in the dormitories, the solution of some urgent problems, such as the lack of electricity, heating, etc. After the violent dispersal of the protest, the next day, on December 9, on the main street and in the city square “Studenti”, several hundred revolted students protested with the slogan “Freedom-Democracy!” against the government. These manifestations showed that the movement was not just for economic demands, but also for political ones. On December 10, the students gathered again at the city square “Studenti”. Now they were joined by a considerable number of lecturers from higher schools, citizens of Tirana and other districts. The organizers of the protests announced 11 demands from the newly erected “tribune”. Their essence was the demand for allowing political pluralism in the country. The student movement of 1990 is the only peaceful movement that changed the history of Albania. Their public act, both civic and political, peacefully ended the long era of isolation and ideological rule, paving the way for the market economy and open society. (Pictured: Students during protests, 1990.)
Text: The history of the Albanian people – Vol. IV , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Toena”, Tirana, 2009, page 360.
Photo: © Albanian Telegraphic Agency
Graphic processing: AHCF
