By Matthias Rüb, “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”/ For more than 100 days they have been gathering every evening. At around 7:00 p.m. people gather in the heart of Tirana and walk along the “Dëshmorët e Kombit” Boulevard. About halfway down the street is the office of the prime minister, whose resignation they are demanding.
This is where the protest becomes noisier. Occasionally, there are clashes with police officers and arrests in front of the building, but most of the time the situation remains peaceful.
This happens night after night. During the weekdays, the protesters are significantly more numerous than on the weekends, when even the most persistent protesters sometimes choose the sea, instead of always staying on the streets of Tirana. The latter are filled with young people who come out to celebrate. They celebrate as loudly and as long as the protesters demonstrate. They are two parallel worlds that seem to be incompatible with each other.
The self-proclaimed “Flamingo Revolution” in Albania has not yet turned into a mass movement. However, it has shown persistence. So is Prime Minister Edi Rama. He has been in power since 2013 and is determined to stay until the end of the legislature in 2029.
Which side will manage to resist until the end?
The protests in the Albanian capital began in late May. The reason was the harsh intervention of employees of a private security company near a construction site fence. The fence had been erected at the northern end of the Zvërnec peninsula, where preliminary works for a luxury tourist project were to begin. Several hundred people had come out to protest against the project, which is being pushed forward by the investment company “Affinity Partners” of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
During the protest, there was a scuffle near the fence. Guards dragged some protesters over gravel to remove them from the construction site fence. Cellphone footage of the intervention, in which no one was seriously injured, went viral.
But how could a relatively insignificant incident turn into a national protest movement, one that even calls itself a revolution?
This also relates to flamingos, which the movement has chosen as a charming symbol of the change it seeks. Environmentalists fear that colonies of pink flamingos and other migratory birds could be endangered by the tourist boom in southern Albania – especially by luxury resorts planned by Arab investors and Qatar, which is linked to the Kushner group. The pink flamingo’s habitat is precisely the Narta Lagoon, a protected area near Zvërnec.
“Lëvizja e Flamingove” e akuzon qeverinë për korrupsion dhe kërkon zgjerimin e zonave të mbrojtura, fundin e favorizimit të investitorëve të mëdhenj dhe zgjedhje të reja demokratike.
Fillimisht Rama, i cili drejton Partinë Socialiste që prej vitit 2005 dhe qeverinë që prej vitit 2013, u përpoq t’i linte protestat të vetëkonsumoheshin. Protestuesve u tha se nuk mund të shfaqeshin një ditë të bukur dhe të rrëzonin nga detyra kryeministrin e zgjedhur dhe qeverinë e tij.
“Kështu nuk funksionon. Duhet të prisni deri në zgjedhjet e ardhshme.” Ishte një argument i vështirë për t’u hedhur poshtë. Në zgjedhjet parlamentare të majit 2025, Rama dhe socialistët e tij kishin fituar më shumë se 52 % të votave. Ishte fitorja e katërt radhazi e socialistëve në zgjedhje, ndërsa Rama dhe partia e tij kishin rritur vazhdimisht përqindjen e votave.
Megjithatë, pikërisht pasi kishte marrë mandatin më të fortë nga zgjedhësit, Rama u përball papritur me kërcënimin më serioz ndaj pushtetit të tij. Pak më pak se dy muaj pas nisjes së protestave, ai ndryshoi taktikë. Në vend që t’u tregonte më tej “grushtin” protestuesve nëpërmjet retorikës, tani po përpiqet t’u rrahë shpatullat. Protestat, thotë tani, janë shenjë e vitalitetit dhe stabilitetit të demokracisë shqiptare. Ai bën dallimin mes atyre që paraqesin kërkesa legjitime dhe duhen dëgjuar, dhe atyre që, sipas tij, po përdoren nga kundërshtarët e tij brenda dhe jashtë vendit për qëllime politike.
Në një fjalim të fortë para grupit parlamentar socialist në fund të korrikut, Rama paraqiti strategjinë e re të qeverisë. Ai foli për një krizë të thellë të besimit publik. Përpara figurave të partisë së tij, të mësuara me fitore elektorale, Rama u ankua për “paradoksin e suksesit”: sa më shumë zhvillohet dhe begatohet një shoqëri, aq më pak ajo gjykon atë që është arritur dhe funksionon, dhe aq më shumë përqendrohet te ajo që mungon dhe nuk funksionon.
Shoqëritë e varfra, tha ai, janë më tolerante ndaj mangësive, sepse mbizotëron mendësia se “mund të ishte edhe më keq”. Shqipëria, sipas Ramës, e ka lënë pas këtë fazë dhe ka hyrë në një tjetër, ku mbizotëron ideja se “mund të ishte edhe më mirë”.
Prandaj, sipas tij, tani nevojitet një “shtet përkujdesës”, që të dëgjojë dhe marrë seriozisht përvojat e qytetarëve, të përmirësojë cilësinë e shërbimeve dhe investimeve dhe në këtë mënyrë të forcojë besimin e qytetarëve te shteti.
Fjalimi i Ramës u prit, pozitivisht nga deputetët dhe funksionarët e Partisë Socialiste. Përfaqësuesit e “Lëvizjes së Flamingove” e hodhën poshtë si një manovër retorike për të shmangur vëmendjen nga problemet themelore: korrupsioni, mungesa e transparencës dhe shkatërrimi i mjedisit.
Sali Berisha, kreu i opozitës konservatore nga Partia Demokratike, hodhi dyshimin se Rama kishte përdorur inteligjencën artificiale për të hartuar dokumentin 40-faqësh, të cilin e cilësoi pa përmbajtje dhe të shkruar keq.
Rama himself does not give the impression that he feels threatened by the “Flamingo Revolution”. He awaits you in his office at the Prime Minister’s Office. His white sneakers are under his desk. He is wearing black wide trousers, a black sweater and black socks. On a hanger hangs a basketball jersey that the former Albanian national team player received as a gift. The cupboards and shelves are filled with various art objects.
Rama doesn't believe the country is at a turning point, much less a breaking point. “But it is certainly a test of faith.” He says he tries to see the glass as both half full and half empty.
"If someone else sees the glass half empty, that's okay. He sees less of what we have achieved and demands more. While the one who sees the glass half full sees exactly what we have achieved."
In principle, according to him, it is a positive sign when people take to the streets – for biodiversity, for environmental protection and other issues.
“For me it’s a challenge. But that’s a good thing. Throughout my political life things have never really gone well when I’m not challenged. I’m usually better when I’m challenged. Will I be better this time? I hope so. I don’t know. Time will tell. The future will prove it.”
Regarding the direct cause of the protests on the Albanian Riviera, Rama recalls that the first contact with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump about a possible investment in Zvërnec and the island of Sazan took place at a time when Donald Trump was not yet president again.
"Trump's life at that time oscillated between prison and the White House."
Rama insists that the fact that, as Albanian prime minister, he promotes foreign direct investment in his country, especially in the key tourism sector, does not make him a tool of Trump.
And the prospect of more than 4 billion euros in investments in the projects planned by Kushner and his partners, Rama says, is not something he as prime minister can simply refuse, if he thinks about the country's interest.
However, according to him, there can be no talk of a "sale" of Albania. Sazan Island continues to be the property of the Albanian state and will remain so. No agreement has yet been reached on the possible development of the former closed military zone by private investors into a luxury resort.
In June, protests brought a slight slowdown in the growth of Albanian tourism. Now this seems to have been overcome. This year Albania is expected to register 14 to 15 million visitors, compared to around 12.5 million a year ago. ©LAPSI.al
