Violent clashes broke out in Tirana as protesters demanding Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation threw stones and set fires while police responded with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets.

Anti-government protests led by university and high school students entered a second week in Albania, with demonstrators showing no signs of backing down from their demands for political change.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he won’t negotiate with protesters who throw cobblestones and use violence to push through their demands.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama defended his government’s response to nearly a week of violent protests, after fresh clashes in the capital injured 59 as demonstrators continued to demand his resignation.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama accused the opposition and unnamed “foreign forces” of stoking violent protests, saying the demonstrations were an attempt to derail the country’s efforts to join the European Union.

Albanian anti-government protesters and police clashed into the night in Tirana on Thursday, prompting dozens of arrests and throwing the capital into chaos as demonstrators press demands that Prime Minister Edi Rama resign.

Kosovo averted a snap election as political parties reached a last-minute agreement to limit the powers of a war crimes court and choose Justina Shiroka-Pula as president.

Tensions flared in Kosovo as protesters demanded lawmakers give their final approval to changes that would limit the powers of the country’s Hague-based war crimes court.

Hundreds of people protested in Kosovo just hours after judges in The Hague sentenced former President Hashim Thaci to 25 years in prison for war crimes.

Kosovo’s former President Hashim Thaci was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 25 years in prison in a ruling that is likely to send shockwaves across the Balkans.

Giant screens featuring digital timers appeared in squares and on main roads across Kosovo this month, counting down to Sept. 16 when judges in The Hague are due to deliver a verdict in the war crimes trial of former President Hashim Thaci.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and opposition leader Lumir Abdixhiku agreed on a candidate for president on Monday, a breakthrough in talks aimed at ending months of political deadlock and avoiding another snap election.

A giant “Free Ukraine” banner that had hung in the center of Kosovo’s capital for more than four years was removed after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this weekend that Kyiv’s position on Kosovo’s independence remains unchanged.

Albania’s parliament approved a $302 million US loan to fund military purchases, as the NATO member steps up defense spending and prepares to host the alliance’s next summit.

Albanian police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters in Tirana, in one of the most tense confrontations since rallies over coastal development projects linked to Jared Kushner began a month ago.

When Edi Rama went on national television to try to assuage protesters calling for his resignation, he managed only to stoke their anger. The Albanian prime minister grew visibly irritated by the anchor who asked why, after 13 years in power, his government had still not managed to provide reliable water and electricity services for the country’s population of 2.4 million.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that his government won’t withdraw its support for two luxury resort projects backed by Jared Kushner’s investment company despite weeks of daily protests against them.

Albanian protesters against the government’s support of a resort project backed by Jared Kushner’s investment company staged their biggest demonstration yet, with thousands calling for Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation.

NATO will reduce its military presence in Kosovo, marking a shift for a peacekeeping mission that has remained a cornerstone of stability in the Balkans since the 1999 war.

As protests in Tirana extend into a second week, they have escalated from opposition to two €5 billion ($5.7 billion) planned resorts in ecologically sensitive areas linked to Jared Kushner into demands for the entire Albanian political establishment to step aside.