What began as a local effort to save the fragile Vjosa-Narta ecosystem has now turned into the largest civic protest in modern Albanian history. This outbreak of popular revolt against the Trump family’s billionaire projects is openly challenging the government’s economic model and forcing changes to laws on strategic investments.

By Camillo Cantarano | Earth Island Journal

"I'm here because I don't want my ancestors' land to be sold to foreign investors and destroyed by them," says a university student, holding a banner that reads "Stop corruption."

It's midnight. In Tirana, the capital of Albania, we are in the midst of a massive anti-government protest. Tens of thousands of people are marching through the city center. The civic response is part of an uprising sparked by plans to build a massive luxury resort.

The project, which will extend to an area with a highly delicate ecosystem on the south coast, is supported by Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Mass protests in Albania are now entering their third month.

Flamingos have become the main symbol of these nationwide demonstrations, which began precisely to oppose the construction project in the birds' sensitive habitat.

This $4.6 billion coastal project aims to turn Sazan, Albania's only island and former communist-era military base in the Adriatic Sea, as well as a large part of the Vjosa-Nartë protected area, into a giant complex of hotels, apartments and villas.

This region is a key stopover for migratory flamingos and is home to more than 2.000 other species. These include 200 species of birds and endangered animals, such as the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta and the Mediterranean monk seal.

At the end of April, when the fadromas began clearing the land within the protected area, environmentalists and residents of the village of Zvërnec and the city of Vlora (about 8 km from the construction site) protested.

Among other things, they accuse Prime Minister Edi Rama, who has been in power since 2013, of changing the law on protected areas simply to pave the way for Kushner and Trump to build the so-called "eco-resort."

After private security guards used violence against demonstrators at one of these rallies, the movement moved to Tirana and quickly spread to other cities. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to express their revolt.

This luxury project seems to have awakened deep resentment among Albanians towards the government, sparking the largest civic protest in the country since the fall of communism. What is now known as the “Flamingo Revolution” has become the first serious threat to Rama’s rule.

Plans for this two-phase project began in 2021, when Trump and Kushner first visited the region. A few months later, they asked Rama for permission to invest in an area that was part of the Vjosa-Nartë reserve.

Things took off in early 2024, when the Albanian government changed the law to allow tourism investments in protected areas. Shortly after, Kushner released the first plans for the project, which envisions the construction of up to 10.000 luxury villas in such a sensitive habitat, along some of the country's last wild beaches.

In December of that year, Rama granted Kushner’s company, Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, “strategic investor” status, a mechanism created in 2015 to attract foreign capital. This status allows investors to utilize public property and avoid administrative red tape.

Activists say the Trump-Kushner project is being built on ecologically sensitive land and critical habitat. They also point out that the Vjosa-Nartë reserve is also facing pressure from an airport being built within the protected area to boost tourism.

Although the airport does not yet have a flight license, the terminal and runway are almost ready. “Airports bring a lot of other infrastructure projects around them, not just roads and parking lots, but also businesses that serve them,” says Gabriel Schwaderer, executive director of EuroNatur, a non-profit organization for the protection of biodiversity in Europe.

“It seems that the real plan is to turn the entire delta into a residential center for tourists. Many habitats will be alienated or completely destroyed,” he adds. At the end of April this year, the government issued the first construction permit for preparatory works and machinery descended on the site.

The first protest erupted in early May, when local activists saw heavy equipment entering the protected area. They began spreading messages on social media, alerting the community.

"Many people went there and started documenting the damage that was being done to the ecosystem. At the time, even the local residents themselves didn't know what was happening," says Joni Vorpsi, an ecologist and activist with the organization PPNEA.

In mid-May, in Zvërnec, along the coastline facing the Narta lagoon, a perimeter fence was erected that attracted even more attention. “I think that fence was erected so that people would not see and document what was being done at the construction site,” adds Vorpsi. But instead of silencing people, the fence only increased their anger. From that moment on, the protests moved to the city of Vlora. “The first three protests were purely environmental causes,” says Baki Goxhaj, an activist originally from Vlora who joined the rallies.

“After the third protest, something changed and the movement took on broader dimensions,” he says. It began to bring together people concerned about corruption, the lack of prospects for locals, and the country’s flawed development model.

On May 30, the situation became tense. According to Vorpsi, masked private guards attacked the protesters, leaving several injured. News of the violence against peaceful protesters spread quickly, and revolt broke out across the country.

At its peak, on June 20, some 250.000 people gathered in the streets of Tirana. The media dubbed them “flamingos,” due to the symbolism of these migratory birds and the importance of the habitat that was being destroyed.

“We expected this,” says Fioralba Duma, a protester from Tirana, part of the citizens’ group Kolektivi i Mesdheut. “This revolt should have started much earlier… But Narta turned into a cause where many battles are intertwined. At stake are the protection of the environment, private property, the legacy that will be left to future generations, the right to have access to the sea, but also the predatory investment model after the fall of communism, authoritarianism and police violence.”

Although the “Flamingo Revolution” was sparked by the Trump-Kushner project, it is taking place at a time of an extraordinary tourism boom. The number of tourists to Albania increased from 4 million in 2014 to over 11 million in 2024.

Rama’s law on strategic investors has been the main driver of this momentum. While tourism has brought benefits to some small businesses, critics point out that luxury tourism only enriches large investors, while increasing the cost of living for residents. The people of Vlora are suffering from this every day. The population is facing rising prices, a lack of basic services – such as sanitation and waste management – ​​and low-paying jobs.

"In Vlora, there is a tendency to fill every free space with concrete," says Goxhaj. "This is the mindset of greedy, money-hungry people who don't care about the environment or the quality of life. They just find a piece of land, sign the agreement and build giant hotels," he further emphasizes.

However, the “flamingos” have scored some victories during these two months of protest. Work at Zvërnec was suspended on June 9, pending an environmental impact report, although locals say that cars continue to enter and exit the site.

Also in mid-July, Rama announced that the country would amend the 2024 law on protected areas and repeal the 2015 law on strategic investments. Both of these withdrawals come after criticism from the European Union and appear to be linked to Rama’s goal of Albania joining the EU by 2030.

Despite this, the prime minister has not canceled the project and many protesters do not trust his moves. “He is trying to buy time to move the project forward. We cannot trust Rama, so we must remain vigilant. On the other hand, the EU must also stop turning a blind eye and take this issue seriously,” says Vorpsi. Organizers hope that international pressure will bring about change. Some of them are already imagining a different Albania. Goxhaj thinks that the Vjosa-Nartë protected area should be expanded, while Sazan could have controlled tourism. “But everything should remain under strict state supervision and open to all Albanians. Sazan is the property of citizens and not of wealthy businessmen,” he declares.

"What we want is a new country for Albanians, where people respect the land and their natural resources. Environmental protection will be our main pillar on the journey towards a responsible, active, democratic and participatory Albania," emphasizes activist Fioralba Duma.