Albanian opposition parties blocked four main motorway junctions in the country on April 5 in a protest against the introduction of the first toll road, which sparked harsh criticism at home and in Kosovo, to where the new highway leads.

This is the beginning of civil disobedience announced by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) few days ago against the toll. The Kosovan authorities also formally asked Albania to reconsider the decision to introduce the toll, which according to many is to high at €5 for vehicles and €22.5 for trucks.

For more than two hours, protestors blocked the road junctions in Vlora, Milot, Elbasan and Lushje, Albanian Daily News reported.

They also urged Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign. The new protest ended without incidents, but DP leader Lulzim Basha said that protests would continue after the party discusses the new strategy for protests

Rama ignored the opposition protest, but decided to speak with residents of the Kukes region. Earlier on April 5, Rama told the parliament, which was abandoned by most of opposition MPs, that the controversial toll will not start before he finds a solution for users of the road from the Kukes region, one of the poorest in the country. 

“We were not fully prepared for what kind of psychological troubles can be created by such new practice,” Rama was cited as saying.

A major protest against the toll road was held on March 31 near the northern town of Kukes on the motorway that leads to Kosovo, but turned violent and left a dozen police officers injured while toll booths were burned.

The concessionaire of the Milot-Morine section, which is part of the Durres-Kukes motorway, is United Arab Emirates-based Catalyst Viva Das General Contracting. However, the authorities said earlier that damages caused during the protest will be paid by the government, not by concessionaire.

The DP also boycotted the work of a parliamentary commission on April 3 after the prosecutor's office ordered 11 of 23 people arrested over the recent violent protests against the country’s first toll road to remain in prison.

The Durres-Kukes motorway connects Albania’s biggest Adriatic port of Durres with the northern city of Kukes, and leads to the Morine border crossing with Kosovo.