From Behind Bars, Tirana Mayor Turns on Albania’s PM Rama

On October 26, the day after Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat to a student-led movement in a momentous election, Tirana mayor Erion Veliaj took a veiled swipe at Albania’s own leader, in power for almost as long as Vucic. “Congratulations to the students for toppling the Machiavellian and populist from Belgrade!” Veliaj wrote on Facebook from behind bars. “Student movements and protests do not signify the ‘end of the world’ but rather the end of ‘a world’. The sooner we as citizens and policymakers grasp this, the better equipped we will be to respond to the needs and expectations of this generation.”