Four months ago, the Minister of Interior, Albana Koçiu, and the Director of the State Police, Ilir Proda, solemnly appeared before the cameras to announce the temporary ban on electric skateboards in Tirana, warning of drastic measures for the "safety of citizens", as according to them, the number of accidents had increased the alarm.
Immediately after the grandiose statements, the Traffic Police "acted" by blocking about 2,000 skateboards. Footage of the action was widely distributed, creating the illusion that a serious crackdown on street chaos was taking place.
But while citizens eagerly awaited the new regulation that would bring “order and discipline,” the action gradually died down. Today, without any regulation and without real controls on the ground, skateboards have regained their freedom on the streets of Tirana. Every citizen can move around without restrictions again, while the police seem to have taken a “well-deserved break.”
Meanwhile, the blocked monopinas are returning, but with problems. Some citizens can no longer find them, leaving room for doubts about the way they have been administered and maintained.
And so, an action that began with fanfare, cameras, and solemnity, has ended with a lesson for the minister and the police director, that if they did less propaganda and more action on the ground, at least citizens wouldn't lose their skateboards.
