Albanian National Theater Demolished by Government Defying Any Protests

TIRANA – Defying any local and international effort opposing the demolition of the National Theater, Prime Minister Edi Rama went ahead with his scheme bringing down a building considered as cultural heritage.
As it was expected hundreds of police forces surrounded the theater building early on Sunday morning, forcibly removing some dozens of citizens who were in front of the theater to protect it.nd cordoned off the area. Dozens of resisting citizens were incapable to prevent police.
Eyewitnesses, who have posted footages of the demolition action, did not make any resistance while the facade of the theater collapsed at 4.15 am on Sunday.
Some eyewitnesses citizens were detained among whom the head of the Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI), Monika Kryemadhi. As it was reported later she was released being seen at the headquarters of the Democratic Party.
A few days ago DP head Lulzim Basha threatened that if the theater is demolished the fire will arrive at Surrel, the residence of the PM.
Incidentally the theater was brought down on May 17 coinciding with the date of a meeting between Rama and Basha which sealed a secret deal before the general election of 2014. Some analysts claim that there is another similar bargain between them having the support of some diplomatic representatives in Tirana.
Since 2018, artists and citizens have staged the longest active protest in the history of Albania to protect the theatre from demolition by the Rama government, but the government moved in amidst the emergency situation and lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus crisis.
In a prompt reaction on Sunday morning President Ilir Meta denounced the demolition as an unpardonable crime. He said that this action will be remembered in the same way as the pickax of the dictatorship in 1967.
“A few hours ago, at the peak of darkness, MAFIA ordered the destruction, not only of one of the most endangered cultural heritage monuments in Europe, but also of any illusion of the existence of the rule of law in Albania,” said President who noted that the simultaneous violence of artists and journalists is a black mark for the Mafia in power.
According to him, the demolition will be remembered in the same way as the pickax of the dictatorship in 1967 on the churches and mosques.
The pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage, representing citizens’ organisations that work on safeguarding Europe’s cultural and natural heritage, considered May 17, 2020, a sad day for Cultural Heritage in Albania and Europe.
“Early this morning, Albanian authorities arrested civil society activists and started demolition of protected National Theater in Tirana,” Europa Nostra said on Sunday morning closing its reaction with the urge that this is ‘Not Our Europe’.
The latest reports say that citizens took to the streets of Tirana surrounding some ministries in a tense atmosphere which is in progress on Sunday. /argumentum.al