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"The biggest and most beautiful protest in democratic Albania" - What the Italian media writes about the "Flamingo Revolution"

2026-06-11 20:56:26Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Scenes from the protest

From Focus Europe / The "Flamingo Revolution" has been going on for days in Albania, a demonstration against the granting of protected areas to international investors, including American billionaire Jared Kushner - President Donald Trump's son-in-law - for the construction of luxury resorts. Beyond the specific protest, the slogans directed at Edi Rama's government suggest a broader disagreement with the political structure that has governed the country for more than a decade.

"This is a heterogeneous protest, uniting people with different ideologies," Klajdi Kaziu, a researcher at the Institute for Democracy and Mediation in Tirana, told Focus Europe. " What united them from the first days was the way private security guards mistreated an Albanian protester in Zvërnec, at the planned construction site. Those images caused an indignant reaction that rightly brought people out into the streets."

Among them are lawyer Lulzim Alushaj, an activist for the protection of professionals' rights, and Lizander Saraçi, a former advisor to the President of the Republic of Albania. Interviewed by Focus Europe, they describe the protest as "the biggest and most beautiful in democratic Albania". "It is a protest by young people who want to decide for themselves about their future and it is a direct demonstration against the two most representative political forces of the country: the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party."

"There are many reasons why people are protesting. Corruption, injustice, even the distribution of the country's wealth, the arrogance of power," added Saraçi, who confirmed that the final point was the violence exerted by private security guards against a protester, while the Albanian police, which did not intervene, was the final point that filled the cup. "At that moment, people understood that power had been completely surrendered to the strongest and that the state was not even capable of protecting them."

The main purpose of the protests appears to be to exercise the right to freedom of expression against a government considered incapable of addressing the country's main problems and an opposition considered incompetent and sold out. Among the critical issues highlighted are widespread corruption, rising living costs, insecurity, institutional oversight, stagnation of justice, poverty among pensioners, mass emigration, and problems related to urban and environmental development.

The main demands include the resignation of the government, the formation of a caretaker government, electoral law reform and new elections, as well as the desire to preserve the independence of the protests from political and media influence. The cancellation of the Zvërnec resort project would be a bitter victory; according to Saraçi, " it is one of the consequences of deliberate changes in the law that pave the way for abuse."

The mobilization is also underpinned by a crisis of democratic representation, linked to low voter turnout and the perception of a political system rooted in decades of abuse of power. "In the last elections, only 44.5% of voters turned out to vote and the government is supported by a fifth of citizens ," Alushaj noted.

Overall, environmental arguments seem to have lost momentum in recent days. " Noticing how such a diverse group continues to remain united on the streets today, one can easily argue that their lowest common denominator is general dissatisfaction with Edi Rama's government," Kaziu said. However, the symbol of the protests remains the flamingo, a typical bird of the Zvërnec Lagoon, whose survival could be jeopardized by large luxury resort projects.

At the same time, the issue of large-scale construction and land transformation has helped broaden the scope of the protests, also encouraging support from demonstrators supporting the Palestinian cause. Palestinian flags were displayed during the protests in reference to suspected links between some of the companies involved in the project and Israel, as well as the similarities between what appears to be awaiting Albania and the controversial "Gaza Resort" project.

Just a few months ago, an AI-generated video released by Donald Trump depicted the Gaza Strip as a luxury tourist destination of the future, with the US president toasting his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu. For protesters, this highlights the risk of radical transformations of territories, to the detriment of local populations and ecosystems, when the powerful are given complete freedom of action.

Both Alushaj and Saraçi stated that they are participating in the protest as free people, engaged in civil society and as parents. Political parties are not present at the protests, except for a few new parties that together number only four deputies, who, however, are not allowed to speak at the podium. "The beauty of democracy is reflected in the eyes of so many young people who demonstrate peacefully, elegantly, with humor and full of ideas about how they want to shape their country and their lives for the coming decades," said Alushaj.

Në vitet e fundit, Alushaj e ka përshkruar peizazhin politik shqiptar si në thelb të pandryshuar dhe të dominuar nga të njëjtat forca tradicionale, të perceptuara nga disa protestues si përfaqësuese të një pakice të elektoratit. Sipas këtij interpretimi, qeveritë e njëpasnjëshme në dekadat e fundit kanë miratuar praktika të errëta, duke kontribuar në përhapjen e korrupsionit, një sistem gjyqësor të dobësuar, shkelje të të drejtave të pronës dhe varfërim progresiv shoqëror dhe territorial.

Në këtë kontekst, mobilizimi shihet nga qytetarët si një shenjë e ndryshimit politik dhe shoqëror, i aftë të përhapet në qytete të tjera dhe të nxisë shfaqjen e forcave të reja politike që shihen si të pavarura nga klasa tradicionale sunduese dhe potencialisht të sjellin një qasje reformiste dhe alternative.

"Shpresa dhe kërkesa kryesore e njerëzve në rrugë është që protestat të çojnë në një ndryshim në politikën kombëtare", përfundoi Saraçi. "E dimë që nuk është e lehtë, por as Roma nuk u ndërtua brenda një dite."


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