Key actors — tap for context
Edi Rama
Albanian prime minister since 2013, formerly a painter and mayor of Tirana.
Why here: Main target of the protests - he refuses to resign and links the movement to Iranian cyberattacks and a foreign "hybrid war."
More info →
Jared Kushner
Donald Trump's son-in-law and head of the American investment firm Affinity Partners.
Why here: His luxury resort on Sazan and in the Narta lagoon sparked the entire movement.
More info →
Ivanka Trump
Donald Trump's daughter and entrepreneur.
Why here: According to French media, she is involved in the Albanian project together with her husband.
More info →
Sali Berisha
Leader of the opposition Democratic Party, former prime minister and former president of Albania.
Why here: Protesters reject him too - they chant "Rama to prison, Berisha to prison."
More info →Le Monde
A leading French daily newspaper of the liberal-left center, founded in 1944.
Why here: Through its lens, the revolution is a rejection of "vassalage" to both the state and the investor.
More info →Affinity Partners
Jared Kushner's American investment firm.
Why here: Behind the billion-euro resort on Albania's protected coastline.
More info →
Ilaria Salis
Italian MEP, previously imprisoned and prosecuted in Hungary.
Why here: At the rally on 27 June, she backed the protest with the message that "Albania is not for sale."
More info →Narta
A protected coastal lagoon near Vlora and a nesting ground for flamingos.
Why here: The site of the planned resort and the source of the symbol of the "flamingo revolution."
Kanye West
American rapper and fashion entrepreneur (born Ye), repeatedly linked to antisemitic statements, including the song "Heil Hitler."
Why here: The government co-funded his concert in Tirana with 4.2 million euros despite a ban on entering Britain and a cancelled concert in Poland.
More info →🔴 Latest developments (13 July - 7 August)
- The sixty-eighth day of protests: "the revolt continues until Rama's non-negotiable resignation." Activists threaten escalation and road blockades Balkanweb ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- An activist announced reinforcements from outside: "on the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth, the diaspora will join us in the square." For the first time, the movement has announced a specific date for mass mobilization Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- Activists explicitly announce road blockades as the next stage Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- Këlliçi has opened a new case: according to him, Rama is preparing a parallel ministry of health for his Israeli friend Sani Sanilevich. He is calling on the anti-corruption prosecutor SPAK to act Balkanweb ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- The protest has spread beyond Tirana: in Divjaka it is the seventh day in the streets, residents reject the merger of the municipality with Lushnja and symbolically burn the ruling party's membership cards Balkanweb ↗
- Albanian media read the Hungarian election as a warning for Rama: "when propaganda turns into a boomerang - lessons from Orbán's election defeat" Balkanweb ↗
- 6 August - "SPAK entered the heart of the prime minister's office." According to a journalist quoted by Balkanweb, Ermal Beqiri had access to the state agency AKSHI and became a millionaire; the trails, he says, lead to Rama, and the protest will not stop Balkanweb ↗
- 6 August - "PS is no longer a party, but an organization." Activist Myftari demands that Rama be investigated and says Minister Balluku's defense showed the government's crisis Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- 6 August - the dispute over the "virtual minister" Diella continues. Bardhi says the Constitutional Court is breaking the law by not publishing the decision on her appointment Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- 6 August - the Vlora airport case is heading to arbitration. According to Gazeta Shqiptare, MABCO is "formalizing" this course after the ministry's move Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- 6 August - the Ministry of Defense responds to the opposition over the tender for firefighting aircraft: the company's court dispute in Spain is being reviewed, and there is supposedly no legal basis for exclusion Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- 6 August - the US Embassy: the political deadlock is costing Kosovo dearly, institutions must be formed in accordance with the constitution Balkanweb ↗
- 65th day of protests: the diaspora joined the domestic movement, and the demands sharpened into a non-negotiable resignation and a transitional government. At the beginning of August, a large Albanian diaspora arrived in Tirana; protesters in front of the prime minister's office chanted "Rama to prison, Berisha to prison" - a slogan also aimed at the opposition leader. Activists are planning another mass diaspora protest for 14-16 August. Rama continues to refuse to resign and insists on his mandate until 2029. Balkanweb ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- The opposition published new accusations against the prime minister's brother. Opposition Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha released the so-called "KAYO file" with what he described as evidence of illegal gambling and fraudulent call centers tied to Olsi Rama, the prime minister's brother - the accusations remain independently unconfirmed, and the government has not publicly commented. Meanwhile, despite the opposition's complaint to the Constitutional Court, President Begaj signed a US loan agreement worth 302 million dollars. Balkanweb ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- Day 58: the march stopped in front of parliament with the cry "Parliament of crime." The kilometer-long procession through Tirana stopped in front of the Assembly building, where demonstrators chanted "Parliament of crime! 140 MPs, all illiterate" and, after clashes with police, left a huge banner in the square reading "Stop the violence." Gazeta Shqiptare ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- "Arrest Rama" - the civil uprising is not easing after 58 days. From Bajram Curri Boulevard came a strong cry from the protesters: "Rama is annoying, people! ... Your end has come!" The rally ended in front of the prime minister's office with the same message as on previous days - "tomorrow even more." Balkanweb ↗Balkanweb ↗
- 57th day of protests: "Arrest Rama, arrest Belinda." In front of the prime minister's office, the common chant targeting both the prime minister and former infrastructure minister Belinda Balluku intensified (the case is being investigated by SPAK, see wave 9). Balkanweb ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- "You say you can hold on until 2029, we say tomorrow even more." Demonstrators responded this way to Rama's claim that he could remain in office until 2029, and once again marched kilometers through Tirana chanting "Albania demands revolution" and the old slogan "Rama to prison, Berisha to prison" - also aimed at the line of opposition former prime minister Sali Berisha. Balkanweb ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- Tomorrow's march to parliament, activist: "a historic process." Organizers announced the continuation of the rally in front of parliament; on the 57th day of protest, activist Sazan Guri declared: "This is a historic process. We will stay here until we return every public asset." Balkanweb ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- 56th day of protests: "Rama, resign." The prime minister's resignation remains a non-negotiable demand. Demonstrators moved from speeches in front of the prime minister's office to a march on Tirana's Third Police Station, which they "occupied," and demanded the release of detained protesters. Balkanweb ↗Balkanweb ↗
- Rama's speech about "besa" only strengthened the protest. After the prime minister's address, in which he invoked besa - the Albanian code of one's word and honor - attendance increased according to Gazeta Shqiptare and the tone sharpened. The slogan of the day was "We do not give Rama besa," and protesters called him "i pabesë," meaning someone who does not keep his word. Gazeta Shqiptare ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- "Besa is not built through symbolism." Former minister Meksi told Rama that besa is measured by kept commitments, functioning institutions, and responsibility. Commentator Zhupa asked the question more directly: can one even give besa to a prime minister who "manipulates even quotes"? Gazeta Shqiptare ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- "Arrest the prime minister, investigate Zvërnec." Demonstrators once again turned to the anti-corruption prosecutor SPAK and answered Rama with his own vocabulary: "You sealed your besa with Balluku." Among the slogans of the day were also "Besa Ali Babu" and "They read Besa on the beach, we write history in the square." Gazeta Shqiptare ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- 53rd day of protests: "We will not retreat, your end has come." Demonstrators are once again demanding Edi Rama's non-negotiable resignation. The Italian weekly L'Espresso called it "the biggest anti-government protest in years" and wrote that the prime minister tried to weaken the force of the "flamingo revolution." Balkanweb ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- BIRN: "the war over the algorithm." An investigation by the BIRN network uncovered hundreds of fake profiles ("digital patrons") that deliberately target supporters of the protest and flood social media with pro-government content - including sharing sunset videos by Minister Balluku. Gazeta Shqiptare ↗Balkanweb ↗
- Protest number 50: "Revolution!" After marching through the streets of Tirana, the fiftieth rally concluded and demonstrators once again repeated the same demand - Rama must resign. Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- Tax inspection at the Prestige resort as "revenge wrapped in legality." Opposition MP Luçiano Boçi described the tax authority's move against the Prestige resort as Edi Rama's retaliation. Protesters link it to pressure on the media - according to them, News24 has covered the protests from day one and the state reportedly threatened it. Gazeta Shqiptare ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- Police detained two people on suspicion of preparing an assassination attempt on Prenga Gjini. The operation took place in Shkodra. Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- Drought as a new protest theme. At the rally, one citizen recalled Rama's 2017 promise that Albania would have water and refused to let Minister Balluku tell him what to do. Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- The protests reached day 48, Rama still refuses to resign. Demonstrators gathered again in front of the prime minister's office and marched along Dëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard with the message "no negotiations, Rama must step down." Gazeta Shqiptare ↗Balkanweb ↗
- BIRN: The European Commission directly criticizes political attacks on the anti-corruption prosecutor SPAK for the first time - in the Balluku case. According to the investigative portal BIRN, Brussels sided with SPAK's independence against pressure from its own government. Gazeta Shqiptare / BIRN ↗
- Protesters quote the European Commission report and demand Balluku's arrest. Activist Lika says the government and parliament prevented SPAK from investigating: "We are here to demand equality before the law and her arrest." Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- In Brussels, Rama admitted he would change the disputed laws, while the street speaks of a "moral victory." At a joint press conference with Kosovo, the prime minister declared that the law on strategic investments would be repealed - "which we agreed on long ago, because that law fulfilled its mission" - and that the law on protected areas would be adjusted to European standards. Tirana professor and protester Ervin Goci called it a "moral victory for the cause" on Facebook and reminded readers that "two months ago, the most popular animal in Narta was a bulldozer." Balkan Insight ↗
- The concession has two catches. Rama also said there is "nothing to repeal" in the law on protected areas, although the European Parliament resolution had called for it - he wants to change only the provisions that do not meet EU standards. Kosova, meanwhile, emphasized that the repeal of both norms had been agreed with Tirana "before these protests even started." That leaves the government room to avoid appearing to have yielded to the street. Balkan Insight ↗
- Dua Lipa was targeting the method, not the resort itself. In the Service95 Book Club podcast, in a conversation with Albanian academic Lea Ypi, she clarified what troubles her: "What worries me is the principle that the government could simply change the law and remove environmental protection without any public consultation." Aleksander Trajce, head of the leading Albanian conservation organization PPNEA, called her intervention "fantastic" and well timed - in his view, there are no signs that the movement is about to end. According to the Guardian, there is no evidence that Kushner had any role in the December 2024 legal amendment. The Guardian ↗
- On the same day, Brussels closed the first three accession chapters with Albania. TASR ↗
- The protests reached day 45 with massive participation. Demonstrators again gathered in front of the prime minister's office and marched for kilometers to Dëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard and to the Air Albania stadium, chanting "Rama to prison, Berisha to prison" and "Your end has come." Balkanweb ↗Balkanweb ↗Balkanweb ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos sided with the protesters' key demand. According to Gazeta Shqiptare, she said the government must listen to citizens, and that an agreement had been reached to repeal the 2024 amendments to the laws on protected areas and strategic investments - precisely the norm that opened protected coastline to developers. Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- Dua Lipa publicly supported the protests. The British-Albanian singer called the "flamingo revolution" against the resort tied to the Trump family inspiring - French, Hungarian, and Lithuanian media picked up the story. France 24 ↗BFM TV ↗444 ↗LRT ↗
- Suspicion of arson in Llaman. Gazeta Shqiptare asks whether hotels and villas will rise after the flames - the fire hit the very location where businessman Arben Muçobega plans a five-star resort. Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- An activist compared Rama to Lukashenko and said in front of the prime minister's office that the prime minister's "mask had been torn off." Activist Luçiana Kokajová is also calling a protest in Brussels to show Marta Kosová "the truth about Albanian rule," as she puts it. Gazeta Shqiptare ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- The protests reached day 44 - demonstrators again gathered outside the prime minister's office and a kilometer-long march crossed Tirana with calls for Rama's resignation and arrest ("Arrest Rama"). Balkanweb ↗Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- The protest is spilling into the European diaspora - on day 44, activist Luçiana Kokaj called on Albanians in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands to join the protest in Brussels at a time when representatives of the Albanian government are expected to be there. Balkanweb ↗
- There was also a protest in New York - according to the American magazine Hell Gate, more than 150 Albanians gathered over the weekend, demanding Rama's resignation and imprisonment and pointing to his ties with former New York mayor Eric Adams. Gazeta Shqiptare / Hell Gate ↗
- The protests reached day 43 - after speeches in front of the prime minister's office, a massive march swept through Tirana, with demonstrators demanding Rama's resignation ("Rama to prison, Berisha to prison"). Balkanweb ↗
- The Swiss daily Le Temps: Rama spent 4.2 million euros on a Kanye West concert, but the anger did not subside - in its view, the "flamingo revolution" is only growing stronger (reported by Albania's Gazeta Shqiptare). Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- Activists are preparing a criminal complaint to the anti-corruption prosecutor SPAK - in the case of the police investigation into critical online reviews ("review"). Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- The Albanian government "urgently" co-funded Kanye West's controversial concert with 4.2 million euros - the rapper has been barred from entering the United Kingdom and had a performance canceled in Poland because of antisemitic statements, including the song "Heil Hitler." Activist of the Flamingo Revolution movement Edison Lika commented: "Kanye West is a notorious antisemite. And the government is giving 4 million euros so the concert can happen." The concert is scheduled for Saturday, 11 July, in Tirana. Balkan Insight ↗
- Rama defends the spending by claiming it will bring 100 million euros in economic benefit; critics call that unrealistic. Artists protested in front of the Ministry of Tourism with banners reading "Ministry of shame" - independent Albanian artists together receive only about 500,000 euros a year, a fraction of the amount the state set aside for a single concert. Le Courrier des Balkans ↗
- According to BIRN's investigation, the new book "The Albanian Files" shows how Rama personally selected foreign star architects for major projects in Tirana - critics see this as proof of "state capture." BIRN writes that American architect Sam Chermayeff received a phone call in 2024 directly from the head of Rama's Territorial Development Office with an offer of two projects in Tirana without public tender. Writer and critic Fatos Lubonja argues that development projects including Kushner's resort were planned even before the law on protected areas was changed - "the businessmen knew it, and that is proof of state capture." Opposition MP Redi Muçi (Movement Together) speaks of "the grand illusion of a prime minister who considers himself above the law." Balkan Insight ↗
- Ina Zhupa: the Bay of Gramë should have been listed by UNESCO, but the government is blocking it as property for smugglers from the "Aruba" case. The former minister says the government's attempt to protect the coastline was deliberately blocked in favor of developers. Balkanweb ↗
- Opposition Këlliçi published documents: Rama is "openly lying" about the Bay of Porto Palermo. According to him, Albania's map is turning into "a table of private interests." Balkanweb ↗
- 35th day of protests, record diaspora turnout. On Sunday, 5 July, the 35th mass demonstration climaxed - Albanians from abroad "occupied" Tirana, and tens of thousands again demanded the prime minister's resignation. Balkanweb ↗De Morgen ↗
- Clashes at the police station, a water cannon deployed. Part of the demonstrators marched to Tirana Police Station No. 3, broke the station windows, and demanded the release of those detained; riot police responded with a water cannon. Balkanweb ↗
- Swiss NZZ: after 36 years of democracy, Albanians are finally standing up to oligarchs. On the same day, Greece's Protothema ran the headline "Albania is not for sale." NZZ ↗Protothema ↗
- Parliament rejected the protesters' demands. On the 31st day of protests in front of the Kuvend, the majority voted down a motion to debate the protesters' demands. At the gate of parliament, they brought a trash bin and chanted "Rama to prison, Berisha to prison." Gazeta Shqiptare ↗Balkanweb ↗
- The Vice President of the European Parliament came to the site. He said the developments could affect Albania's path to the EU and added that "people do not protest for 31 days with their children because someone is paying them." Gazeta Shqiptare ↗
- Rama lashed out at the protesters. The prime minister called them "dangerous socio-political waste" and "the blackest image of political alternatives." Gazeta Shqiptare ↗Balkanweb ↗
- President Begaj signed a criminal amnesty. That same day he signed the law under which 466 people were immediately released. Balkanweb ↗
What the French lens says
The trigger was a luxury resort that Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, is supposed to build on the island of Sazan and in the Narta lagoon near Vlora through the investment firm Affinity Partners (with Ivanka Trump's involvement, according to French media). The lagoon is a protected wetland and a nesting ground for flamingos, and it was the paper flamingos that became the symbol of the movement, which protesters nicknamed the "flamingo revolution." Euronews ↗French media and analysts, however, do not read the uprising as an environmental dispute, but as a crisis of representation. In the interpretation of the Fondation Jean-Jaurès think tank (authors Gresa Hasa and Florent Marciacq), protesters reject both the government and Sali Berisha's traditional opposition because "both major political forces today defend the same political-economic model." At the core is the status of a "strategic investor," which enables fast-track procedures and expropriation of private land in favor of selected interests. The street's slogan is therefore simple: "Albania is not for sale." Fondation Jean-Jaurès ↗
How it differs from Slovak coverage
Slovak media covered the issue only marginally. SME summarized it under the headline "It is no longer just about flamingos... the government can slow the road to the Union," framing it as a risk to Eurointegration. SME ↗ The French lens does not ask whether Albania will slow down in Brussels, but who the country actually belongs to. What began as a small dispute over a beach near Narta became a mirror of the entire model of governance, in which public assets are quietly and opaquely transformed into private profit.The second difference is Kushner himself. Where domestic reporting sees a controversial construction project, French media see a symbol - the coastline of an EU candidate country being sold off to the family of the American president. And the third, most uncomfortable point for Brussels: analysts warn that while institutions praise Albania's "unprecedented progress," citizens are experiencing media concentration, weakened environmental protection, and opaque construction practices. According to them, EU enlargement favors stability over the quality of democracy, so "Brussels is more willing to negotiate with governments than to listen to civil society." Tirana Times ↗
Limits of this view
Le Monde belongs to the liberal-left center and is openly critical of Trump, while Fondation Jean-Jaurès is a think tank close to French social democracy. Both therefore read the Albanian street with sympathy and Kushner's project with suspicion. This framework leaves in the background the fact that Rama won democratic elections in 2025 for the fourth time, and that part of the Albanian public expects jobs from the investment. The movement so far has no unified leadership or program, so the vacuum on both sides could just as easily be filled by populism. Attendance figures should also be taken with caution: estimates from 20 June range from 50,000 to more than 250,000. And when Rama links the protests to Iranian cyberattacks and disinformation as part of a broader foreign "hybrid war," critics reject that as an attempt to discredit domestic demonstrators. Euronews ↗What hotinfo is tracking
- Whether Tirana will comply with the European Commission's call to amend or repeal the law on protected areas and the strategic investor framework. According to Der Standard, the government has not acted so far. Der Standard ↗
- Whether the movement's demands - from the government's resignation through a non-partisan technocratic cabinet and early elections to limits on the prime minister's power - will turn into political force, or whether the movement will burn out.
- The fate of Kushner's resort on Sazan and in the Narta lagoon.
- The reaction of the European Parliament after Italian MEP Ilaria Salis said at the rally on 27 June that "Albania and Europe are not for sale."
