By Kieran Burke, TIRANA Albania
Student-led protests continued in Albania for a sixth day with continued demands for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign.
Despite those calls, Rama is refusing to step down, saying the demonstrations were not a threat to government but rather a threat to Albania's ambition of accession to the European Union.
"I am not being challenged, the government is not being challenged, a government majority or a winning party in the elections is not being challenged but a path is being challenged, a mission is being challenged," Rama said in a live address on Facebook.
"Albanians need to think very clearly: Do they want this, do they want that, or do they want the EU?” Rama asked.
Rama ruled out resigning and said that the protests are the "work of an outside hand."
Earlier in the week Rama ruled out resigning, saying that governments were changed through elections.
Student-led demonstrations, spurred by discontent over alleged government corruption, unemployment and poor education standards, have rocked central Tirana and spread to other cities in the past week.
On Sunday, hundreds gathered outside the Education Ministry, chanting "Rama resign!" and threw rocks at riot police who responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.
The protests come at a difficult for Albania as it is among a group of Balkan states seeking to join the EU by 2030.
There have been calls for calm from Brussels amid the violent protests. The European Commission in Sunday condemned the use of violence in Tirana and othern cities.
The commission added that it welcomed the Albanian authorities' commitment that the right to protest will be protected.
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