Albania protesters clash with police over theatre demolition

• Dozens of opposition supporters and activists clashed with police as they tried to break through a police cordon and hurled stones leaving one police officer injured, an AFP correspondent said.

TIRANA: Albanian police Sunday clashed with protesters including opposition supporters angry over the demolition of the national theatre, leading officers to detain nearly 40 people.

Workers at dawn on Sunday began tearing down the theatre in the capital's main square, constructed in 1939 by Italians occupying Albania at the time.

Dozens of opposition supporters and activists clashed with police as they tried to break through a police cordon and hurled stones leaving one police officer injured, an AFP correspondent said.

"Down with the dictatorships," the demonstrators chanted.

A total of 37 people were detained, a police statement said.

It said one police officer was injured when he was hit by stones hurled by the protesters.

Tensions were still running high later Sunday morning at the square where hundreds of people rallied despite a ban on public gatherings to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Police were wearing face masks unlike most protesters.

They urged citizens to respect social distancing measures and "avoid clashes with police".

The theatre is to be replaced by a new, bigger one.

But activists and the opposition argue the old theatre is part of the country's national heritage.

Meanwhile, the European Union delegation to Albania said it was following Sunday's developments regarding the theatre "with deep concern" and called the parties to avoid an escalation of the situation.

It voiced regret in a statement that its call for a "dialogue between authorities and civil society before an irreversible decision is taken" has not been followed by the relevant institutions.

The left-wing government in Albania, a nation of nearly 3 million in southeastern Europe, is waiting for the EU to give it a concrete date to open accession talks.