
Former Defense Minister Pirro Vengu has reacted to the student protests that have engulfed Tirana and says that the country is blessed with the young people it has, but emphasizes that they do not need "guardians to speak on their behalf."
"Students do not need a political supplement to guide them, nor guardians to speak on their behalf. They have their voice, their reasons, and their right to protest. Just as they have the right to choose not to protest.
"Their concerns and aspirations deserve to be heard. But violence and vandalism serve no cause. Anger and resentment do not justify them. Those who blindly use violence and then hide behind students are exploiting their cause," he writes.
Pirro Vengu adds that students love Albania and their homeland and do not burn it, referring to the scenes of violence and fire against private and state institutions during the protest. According to him, teachers are threatening students with grade reductions if they do not come to the rally.
"Educators who threaten to lower grades for those who do not protest, or MPs who seek to reinvent themselves at the expense of the legitimate dilemmas and aspirations of youth, only deepen the trust gap with a generation that is highly prejudiced and little listened to."
"Young people deserve to be heard and to decide for themselves. Even when they protest. Even when they choose not to protest," writes former minister Pirro Vengu.