Opposition lawmakers clashed with police in Albania’s parliament on Thursday after weeks of escalating tensions over corruption allegations against Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku and other senior officials, Reuters reported.
Lawmakers from the opposition Democratic Party lit black torches, threw water at the speaker and occupied seats reserved for ministers in an attempt to disrupt the session as the new ombudsman prepared to be sworn in. Police intervened, pushed lawmakers away from the stage and allowed the confirmation to proceed.
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MPs from the Democratic Party, Albania’s largest opposition party, protest in parliament, in Tirana, Albania, December 18, 2025. (Stringer/Reuters)
The unrest comes after Albania’s Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Structure, known as SPAK, asked parliament to lift Balluku’s immunity so she can be arrested on corruption charges. Parliament is expected to vote on the request on Friday.
Opposition lawmakers demanded to see the formal charges presented to parliament after prosecutors moved to lift Balluku’s immunity. SPAK alleges that Balluku has participated in corrupt practices intended to benefit companies involved in major infrastructure projects, including a tunnel and the ring road in the capital Tirana. The projects are valued at hundreds of millions of euros.
Balluku, who is also Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, is considered Prime Minister Edi Rama’s closest ally. His socialist party won a fourth consecutive term earlier this year.
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People gather during a demonstration in Tirana, the capital of Albania, in support of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who was under house arrest from December 2023 to November 2024 on corruption charges and is currently under judicial supervision of the Albanian Special Court of Appeal for Corruption and Organized Crime (GJPAKKO). (Olsi Shehu/Anadolu via Getty Images)
According to Reuters, SPAK filed a criminal complaint against Balluku on October 31, alleging that it had improperly favored a company in a tender for a 6.7-kilometer tunnel in southern Albania. Prosecutors later added an indictment related to alleged violations at a road construction project in Tirana on November 21, the same day a court initially removed her from office.
Balluku has denied the allegations. In a speech to parliament ahead of a court hearing in November, she described the accusations as ‘mud-slinging, insinuating half-truths and lies’.
Members of parliament from the Albanian Democratic Party, the country’s largest opposition party, protest against the government in parliament in Tirana, Albania, December 18, 2025. (Stringer/Reuters)
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Albania is a member of NATO and a key US ally in the Balkans, with Washington funding judicial reforms aimed at curbing corruption as part of the country’s bid to join the European Union.
