The 'Flamingo Revolution': What's behind Albania's protests?

Every evening at 7 p.m., protesters return to the same square in the Albanian capital, Tirana, with the same symbols, making the same demands.

More than three weeks of uninterrupted daily demonstrations have turned the "Flamingo Revolution" into Albania's largest civic protest movement since the fall of communism.

It began when a government-approved luxury tourism project in Zvernec, a protected coastal area in southern Albania, triggered protests that soon evolved into a broader political movement.

Initially driven by environmental concerns, the demonstrations have expanded into broader demands, including calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Rama rejects the idea that the unrest can be explained by domestic political grievances alone. Instead, he argues that the protests are unfolding within what he describes as a "hybrid war" driven by external influences and digital manipulation.

Kushner's luxury resort

For Rama, the controversy gained international visibility only after it became associated with Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, who is planning to build a luxury tourism project in Zvernec.

"The world did not wake up because of the fate of Narta, but because of the name of Jared Kushner," Rama said at a meeting of the Socialist Party's parliamentary group on June 20.

The prime minister argues that what he referred to as the "digital cyclone" has allowed the protests to be amplified by a broad constellation of external actors, including opponents of Donald Trump, anti-Israeli groups and what he calls state-sponsored "digital mercenaries."

"State-sponsored actors have been identified, including those from Iran," he said.

Echoes of Albania's communist past

Jonila Godole, scholar of political communication and collective memory at the University of Tirana, argues that Rama's interpretation of the protests reflects a familiar communications strategy: shifting the focus from the protesters' demands to the alleged forces behind them.

"When a civic protest is presented as Iranian, anti-Israeli, or driven by Trump's opponents, attention shifts away from what protesters are demanding. The debate moves instead to the alleged authors of the protest — the external enemy," she told DW.

Godole also sees echoes of Albania's communist past in Rama's rhetoric. During Albania's communist period, political dissent was routinely portrayed as the work of hostile foreign forces.

She argues that the language of external enemies continues to resurface whenever those in power face sustained domestic pressure.

"Fear was the political capital of the communist regime," she said. "It kept society under control and concentrated power around the leader. Today, that language no longer works in the same way. Young people no longer recognize that political code. They reject it."

Can algorithms explain a protest?

Academic and communications theorist Artan Fuga argues that attributing the protests to algorithms risks confusing the medium with the cause.

Digital platforms may accelerate the circulation of information, he says, but they cannot explain why citizens choose to take to the streets.

"The algorithm is part of the communication environment. It can accelerate the circulation of messages, amplify emotions and increase visibility. But it is not the cause of social dissatisfaction," he told DW. "Technology may influence the way a protest spreads, but it does not create the reasons for the protest. Confusing algorithms with social discontent means mistaking the channel for the source."

Tension has been building for years

For many observers, the turning point came not online but on the beach at Zvernec on May 30.

In front of mobile phone cameras and in the presence of police officers, a protester was dragged across the sand by private security guards. The footage spread rapidly on social media, transforming what had begun as an environmental protest into a broader national debate about power, accountability and the rule of law.

Artan Fuga argues that the images resonated because they captured tensions that had been building in Albanian society for years.

"It was a shocking moment for the Albanian public," he said. "That scene exposed the relationship between citizens and the state, between the individual and their rights, and the clash between private interests and the public good."

More than just an environmental protest

Political scientist Blendi Kajsiu argues that the protests reveal a much deeper crisis than a dispute over environmental protection.

In his view, what unites the demonstrators is not a shared ideology but a shared rejection of Albania's political model.

"We are witnessing a profound crisis of Albania's democratic model. What unites these protesters is no longer ideology, but the belief that the country's political system no longer represents them," he told DW.

Kajsiu argues that the protesters are attempting to reclaim public space from what they see as its gradual capture by narrow political and private interests.

"The fence erected in Zvernec became a physical manifestation of what many citizens feel has happened to the prime minister's office, parliament and political parties: They have been enclosed by their 'owners'."

Beyond Albania

The debate has already reached the EU.

In its latest progress resolution on Albania, the European Parliament expressed "serious concern" over developments in the Vjosa-Narta protected area, called for an immediate moratorium on new permits and construction in protected areas.

The resolution argues that environmental protection and the rule of law remain part of Albania's EU accession commitments.

Jonila Godole believes the European Parliament's resolution demonstrates that European institutions have acknowledged the environmental and rule-of-law dimensions of the dispute.

However, she argues that portraying the protests using the language of hybrid threats and foreign interference risks shifting international attention away from the protesters' democratic demands and toward questions of security and stability.

"For years, Europe has called for a stronger civil society to strengthen democracy," she said. "Today, Albania has a strong civil society that has mobilized on an unprecedented scale, yet there has been little international reaction in support of that mobilization. The question is whether civil society is welcomed only when it is weak, and not when it becomes a real political actor."

Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan