Once, around 2003–2004, I wandered the hills of Butrint Park, together with the “bird scientist,” as the villagers of the area called him, Toton, or more precisely Taulant Binon. We observed the birds of the lagoon. He as a true scientist, I as a benefactor.

There I saw for the first time the white flamingos of Butrint, but also the crows and black larks, or other birds that a master had immortalized in ancient times in the Mosaics of Butrint.

For many lovers of antiquity, this area is located to the east of the lake. The hill called Kalivo, a larger and more ancient city than Butrint, still not properly studied, and the smaller hill where a large Roman cemetery is located, are separated by a strip of water. Once this strip was wider and Lake Bufi and Lake Butrint exchanged waters with each other.

Until the middle of the 19th century, this area, now called the lagoon, was almost abandoned by people, but populated by numerous colonies of birds and rare species. British and French officers from Corfu often came to hunt in these parts. The magnificent landscape and ancient settlements made Butrint one of the most beautiful places in the Mediterranean.

The area has changed since then. However, in 2000, when the entire landscape around the ancient city was declared a National Park and protected area, nature began to return. Lake Bufi and Lake Butrint began to give and take again as they once did. Kalivoja, perhaps the settlement of the Icanic Trojans, was covered by forest.

The great Roman villa of Diapor still bears witness to the grandeur of Roman architecture that once graced these shores. Often as we paddled on the Lake we dreamed that the villa of Diapor might have been the place where Pompon Atticus, friend of Caesar and Mark Antony, met with his old friend Cicero, who often came to Roman Buthrotum to enjoy the magnificent scenery.

Pompon Atiku, one of the most influential men of his time, tried hard to prevent Caesar's legions from harming his beloved Butrint. Even after Caesar, Cicero, and Mark Antony had passed away, Butrint was fortunate enough to enjoy imperial protection. Atiku's daughter married Agrippa, the famous Roman general, who defended the city and adorned it with public works.

Octavian, the first emperor of Rome, knew Butrint well, as the glorious Latin poet Virgil had written in his epic poem the story of the Trojans and the legendary founding of the city by Andromache and Helen, who welcomed the famous Aeneas on the steps of the Scaean Gate.

After Octavian came Tiberius, who was troubled by the story of Pan's death in Butrint, a grim omen that prompted the emperor to order investigations to discover why Pan, the protector of shepherds and nymphs, had died in the lake of Butrint.

For centuries, Butrint did not perish like many other cities. Fate helped it preserve its landscape. The barbarians did not destroy it. Byzantium used it as an important port, and Justinian the Great himself, the builder of Hagia Sophia, helped build the magnificent basilica of Butrint filled with colorful mosaics.

After the Fourth Crusade, Butrint passed into the hands of Venice. The Crusaders often stopped in this small but important town. Richard the Lionheart, according to chronicles, stopped here and prayed in the city's basilica.

So oppressive was this small city that the Welsh monk Geoffrey of Monmouth decided to write The History of the British Kings in 1116, whom he placed as descendants of the ancient Butrotas.

The Middle Ages wrinkled the city, but did not erase it from history.

When Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent set up camp on the plains of Butrint during his attack on Corfu, malaria and dampness forced the Ottoman army to retreat. Myftar Bey Tepelena, the grandfather of Ali Pasha Tepelena, also fell in that campaign.

Perhaps this was the reason why Ali Pasha loved Butrint so much. He built a small palace here where he received European diplomats and friends in his complicated political game. It was in Butrint that the French painter Louis Dupre painted his famous portrait.

Although nature and malaria made life difficult, Butrint was not lost. In the 1920s, a new “Caesar” in Rome, Benito Mussolini, asked archaeologist Luigi Ugolini to find the city that Virgil had written about in the Aeneid at all costs.

The Duce financed part of the excavations and Butrint came to light again. Mussolini, in addition to his imperial dreams, wanted to show the Albanians that the founders of Rome and Butrint had the same origin, Trojan. At that time, Butrint was visited by well-known figures of European politics and culture.

They entered with difficulty from the Vivari Canal and disembarked at the small pier built in the shape of the letter "M" in honor of Mussolini. Even Galeazzo Chiano, the famous fascist minister, visited Butrint not long after King Zog's visit with Geraldine.

For many years after that, Butrint fell silent. Until one of the most powerful men in the world, Khrushchev, paid a visit to the ancient city. For two weeks, the area was sprayed against snakes and a small road was even built for his visit.

However, Khrushchev did not pass over it, but followed the Trojan waterway, entering from the Vivar Canal to the heart of the city. The Soviet Khrushchev thought that a large naval base could be built on the Lake, but fate spared Butrint this time too.

The ancient city remained untouched for decades, thanks to the paranoia of the communist regime that did not allow movement near the border. For this reason, after the fall of communism, Butrint was one of the best-preserved sites in the Mediterranean, untouched by tourist developments.

Since 1994, serious efforts have been made to protect not only the ancient city, but also the Homeric landscape that surrounds it. The entire area below Salii i Pare was planned for resorts and construction, but the unrest of 1997 and the Kosovo War kept these projects at bay.

Finally, in 2000, thanks to decisions taken by the enlightened minds of the time, it became possible to declare the area a National Park. UNESCO included it on the World Heritage List.

But few people know that Butrint was the birthplace of the model for protecting historic landscapes around archaeological sites, a model that is used today in some of the world's most important sites.

Albania, at the height of its political and economic crises, then took an important step in protecting not only its historical heritage, but also its nature and landscape.

Now let's return to today's Butrint.

Sometime around 2021, (for reasons unclear at the time but clear today) the Rama III Government decided to entrust this natural and historical wonder to a man named Granoff.

This gentleman, who had only set foot in Butrint a few times, suddenly became the guardian of an estate that had survived over 3 years of history, as if the Albanians had all died.

The city was handed over to Granoff and with it the Bag. The Albanian state was ordered that no one should approach this Center because from now on the American Flag would be flown there, one of the greatest insults that could be done to a normal Nation.

But the boundaries of the new guardianship seem to have ended at the Venetian walls.
What about the Park?
What about the Trojan Pass?
What about the fields with Roman villas?
What about ancient cemeteries?
What about the Tiber aqueduct?
What about Atiku's villa?
What about the lake of Pan and its nymphs?
What about the lagoon where flamingos and larks have lived for centuries?
Who would protect them?

Granoffi and his Langonjte in Tirana deal with Qesene.

Today we are actually learning that under the imaginary American Flag this great historical treasure was left in the hands of Sharks, a species previously unknown in the history of Butrint.

And the sharks, gathered around the prey, have begun to tear off their parts. The sharks are sophisticated. They wear suits, talk about development, organize conferences and use big words like “strategic investment”, “modernization”, “partnership” and “vision”.

Meanwhile, one is destroying the protected coastline from Ksamil to Vivar.

Another is tearing up the Bull Wall hill.

A third has cast its nets in Lake Bufi, while other super sharks are preparing a new Mynxyra over the Homeric landscape of Butrint.

Once, when Taulant and I were counting flamingos and larks, I would never have believed that my beloved Butrint would be given to the sharks to be torn apart.

Then I watched as the white flamingos and black larks lived peacefully together for centuries until the Tirana Sharks appeared and decided to attack their home. Well, these peaceful birds, you can mock or even despise them as much as you want, but they have never wounded the Homeric Butrint.

The sharks, this new breed, trying to eat Butrint is the real tragedy. And all this feasting under the Imaginary American Flag and state ridicule.