From words about prevention and rehabilitation, to protests and clashes with citizens: how far is political rhetoric from reality?
Interior Minister Ervin Demo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni appeared side by side in San Patrignano, at an international meeting focused on the fight against addiction, the protection of young people and rehabilitation.
The message in the letter sounds unquestionable: young people must be protected, addictions must be prevented, and people struggling with drugs must be given the opportunity for rehabilitation and reintegration.
But this is precisely where the political question arises: what does “protecting youth” mean when young people and citizens who come out to protest face a state that uses police force to manage discontent?
Demo, who heads the institution responsible for public order and security in Albania, speaks from Italy about an approach that should be long-term, social and human. But in Albania, any such declaration about protecting citizens clashes with the way the police behave towards protests and protesters.
This is the contradiction that requires an answer.
Is it the same state that seeks to rehabilitate young people, but when they take to the streets to protest, sees them first and foremost as a problem of order?
Meloni is not immune to this dilemma. Her government has faced strong criticism and debate over its policies on protests and public order, while its approach to security has often been characterized by strengthening powers and control measures.
Thus, the photo of two officials shaking hands and talking about “protecting young people” can be read in two ways.
In the official version, it is a picture of two governments that want to fight drugs, addiction and its social consequences.
In the critical version, it is a picture of two policies that talk about protecting young people, while their model of governance raises questions about how another fundamental right of young people and citizens is treated: the right to protest and oppose the government.
Because protecting young people cannot be limited to drugs.
A healthy society also requires young people who can speak out, protest, oppose, and not be afraid of the state's uniform.
Therefore, the question that remains after the meeting in San Patrignano is stronger than the diplomatic slogan:
Are DEMO and MELONI really talking about how to protect young people — or are they building another model of how to control and suppress them when they become critical voices of power?
Because it's not enough to say you're protecting young people from drugs.
You also need to show that you protect them from abuse of power.
