Albania introduces fines of more than $6000 for demonstrators. Yet thousands continue their protests across Albania in what has become known as the “Flamingo Revolution”. Initially sparked by opposition to a large-scale luxury tourism project linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. What began as a campaign to protect the ecosystem and wildlife has broadened into a wider protest movement targeting Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government over corruption, accountability and the country’s political direction.
Alexandra Dubsky
29 October 2026
In a desperate attempt to quell the protests, the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama has introduced fines of more than $6000 for demonstrators who participate in a protest that turns violent. The fine is six times the average monthly salary. Police were also given powers to temporarily restrict gatherings in certain areas such as educational, healthcare and government institutions. The measures also provide for sanctions against online incitement to violence and compensation for small businesses damaged during protests. The measure still needs the approval of the parliament within 45 days to remain in force.
The movement began in late May as an environmental protest aimed at a planned holiday resort in an area considered important for flamingos. The birds became a symbol of the demonstrations, with protesters carrying flamingo-themed banners and signs.
The protests intensified again in October turning into a wider anti-government protest of students demanding action over high tuition fees, poor conditions at universities and skyrocketing living expenses. This mirrors similar protests in other mayor European cities such as Paris, Milan and Lisbon. Demonstrators have moreover continued to call for Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation.
According to media reports, protests have escalated over several days, with demonstrators throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and fireworks at police. Buildings were set alight, a police station was reportedly burned, and the entrance to the Interior Ministry was damaged by fire. Police responded with rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas. Hundreds of people, including police officers, have reportedly been injured.
Rama has also attributed the unrest to foreign influence and rejected calls to resign. The protesters included “young men and women who have been radicalized by dark forces in Europe and the US”, he said. “Albania has become one of the targets of a well-coordinated attack.”
Protesters, meanwhile, said that they would stay until he stepped down. “We will continue our movement until Rama resigns. We are not criminals, we want social peace and better living conditions in our country,” the 22-year-old student Leka Sina told reporters. Sina added that even though violence was not a solution, the government needed to reflect on the reasons behind the revolt.
“The protests have far outgrown the cry for protecting the flamingos,” a staff member of the Albanian embassy in Vienna told iGlobenews speaking anonymously. The staff member argued that many Albanians want their country to join the European Union but that the controversy around the luxury tourism project linked to the Trump family has attracted negative attention in Europe. (These comments reflect the source’s view and are not an official position of the European Union).
The Albanian government has promoted tourism as a key driver of economic growth. Critics, however, claim that the Trump family resort project reflects the sale or exploitation of public land for the benefit of wealthy international investors. “Albania is not for sale” has been one of the slogans associated with the wider opposition. The project is proposed to include luxury hotels, private villas, a marina, restaurants and leisure facilities, with around 10 000 villas in coastal areas, according to the original project description.
Previously this development would have been illegal because of the environmental protection of Vjosa-Narta. That is until the Albanian legislator passed a contentious law allowing “strategic investors” to build in parts of the Vjosa-Narta landscape surrounding the last intact delta system in the Mediterranean.
Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner’s wife and the eldest daughter of US President Donald Trump, has described how the couple first encountered the island during a boat trip with friends. In an interview with American podcaster David Senra, she said they stopped for a swim, swam ashore and hiked barefoot to the highest point, where they were captivated by its natural beauty. The development has since become a lightning rod for concerns about the environmental impact of luxury tourism and the influence of powerful foreign investors.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama continues to champion the € 4 billion) development, arguing that a fast-tracked environmental impact assessment will allow it to proceed legally. Speaking to the Guardian, the Dutch MEP Tineke Strik accused Rama of pouring oil into the fire by continuing his staunch support for the controversial luxury resort.
Albania has been an official EU candidate since 2014, and accession negotiations formally opened in 2022. The government has presented EU membership as a central national goal. In June, the European parliament called for the Albania to repeal the legislation which lifted the environmental protection of Vjosa-Narta, saying this law posed a direct threat to environmental standards that are “non-negotiable conditions of accession”.
Rama’s desperate attempt to cling to power by imposing unconscionable fines on peaceful protesters is against European values and as such will damage Albania’s EU prospects regardless of the future of the Flamingo Revolution.
