By Ivan Blazhevski
Skopje, Jun 6 (EFE).- A wave of protests under the plink flamingo symbol has rattled Albania, opposing two tourism megaprojects linked to United States President Donald Trump’s family.
Thousands of protesters consider the creation of a luxury resort linked to Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, married to Ivanka Trump, a threat to the environment and a symbol of the government’s excesses.
The protests show no signs of abating after nearly a week and have even gone global through the Albanian diaspora in Italy, the US, and Canada.
New demonstrations were called for Saturday in the port city of Vlora, on the Adriatic coast, near one of the areas affected by the projects, as a crowd once again filled the streets of Tirana.
Saturday marks the sixth consecutive day of protests since the mobilization began on May 31 in the fishing village of Zvërnec and at the Vjosa-Narta lagoon, one of the two sites included in the investment plans linked to Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
The other is Sazan Island, a former communist-era military base a few kilometers off the coast, which “fascinated” Ivanka Trump, as she recounted in a recent interview.
The project is being developed by a company linked to Affinity Partners, Kushner’s investment fund, alongside Qatari billionaire brothers Ramez and Mohamad Al-Khayyat, who purchased waterfront land in Zvërnec.
Part of that land is located just a few hundred meters from a protected coastal wetland that serves as a refuge for flamingos, monk seals, and sea turtles during nesting season.
In 2024, the government designated the developing company as a strategic investor for 5.4 billion euros.
»Albania is not for sale,» «Ivanka, go home,» «Cancel the project,» and «Hands off Vjosa-Narta» are some of the most frequently chanted slogans during the protests in Zvërnec, where hundreds of people, mostly young people and families, gathered on Saturday.
»We are not against foreign investment, nor against Kushner, nor against the Arabs, nor against anyone, but we are against the destruction of our nature and our land for economic gain,» a young protester told Syri TV in Vlora.
Another participant stated that the protests also denounce the fact that for years, the best coastal lands have ended up in the hands of Albanian and foreign oligarchs through opaque deals and projects.
»In their luxury resorts, ordinary Albanians are left with nothing but jobs as cleaners and gardeners,» he lamented.
The most striking image of the demonstrations has been the constant presence of the color pink: many participants show up wearing pink clothing or carrying flamingo-shaped floats.
Others display flags designed for the occasion in which the black double-headed eagle of the Albanian national flag has been replaced by a pink two-headed flamingo.
Over the past week, the protests have evolved, and for many, they are a revolt against the two major political figures who have dominated Albania for the past three decades.
Chants such as “Rama to jail, Berisha to jail” can be heard in the streets of Tirana, directed against the current socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama, in office since 2013, and the veteran opposition leader Sali Berisha, a central figure in Albanian politics since the 1990s.
Both represent “two sides of the same exhausted system,” closely linked to the interests of national and international economic elites, protesters say.
Rama, however, has rejected the criticism and described the protests as a “hybrid war” driven from abroad, even going so far as to accuse Iran of fueling discontent and spreading “fake news” on social media.
The PM has assured that as long as he remains in power, the project will move forward, as it is a major initiative to attract high-end tourism.
Meanwhile, the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) opened an investigation into alleged fraudulent transfers of property titles.
Albania, one of the most closed-off countries during the communist era, has a relatively unspoiled coastline that attracts an increasing number of tourists. In 2025, it recorded over 12 million visitors. EFE
ib-ll/mcd
