Kushner-Linked Protests Reveal Depth of Anger at Albanian Leaders
(Bloomberg) -- When Edi Rama went on national television to try to assuage protesters calling for his resignation, he managed only to stoke their anger. The Albanian prime minister grew visibly irritated by the anchor who asked why, after 13 years in power, his government had still not managed to provide reliable water and electricity services for the country’s population of 2.4 million.
It’s a question asked repeatedly on the streets of the capital, Tirana, where people are also railing against the quality of healthcare and education — which generally rank in the lower half of the Western Balkans — and a system they say is corrupt. But Rama snapped, accused Top Channel’s anchor, Sidorela Gjoni, of “talking nonsense,” then switched off his camera.
A recording of the June 12 exchange was posted on YouTube, where viewers praised Gjoni for her handling of those tense six minutes and criticized Rama for appearing arrogant and detached. The clip, which continues to circulate on social media, and reactions to it, help explain why demonstrations have escalated over nearly four weeks from opposition to the government’s approval of luxury resort projects linked to Jared Kushner into a nationwide movement against Rama’s rule.
“People saw in it the same arrogance they feel from the government every day,” said protester Eduard Nikolli on Thursday night. “Instead of answering, he attacked her and left. I see a country advertised as successful, European and full of investment, but I don’t feel it.”
The rallies, dubbed the Flamingo Revolution — after the birds whose habitat is threatened by coastal development — are unprecedented in a country that has experienced periods of significant political and economic turmoil since the fall of communism in 1992. Previous waves of protest have been either issue-specific or organized by the opposition, and some turned violent.
This time, demonstrators are led by a new generation of ordinary people peacefully demanding profound change. “The main challenge is not only whether Rama will stay or leave,” said Afrim Krasniqi, who heads the Tirana-based Institute for Political Studies, “but whether Albania will manage to build bridges of communication, avoid escalation and open a real process of political and institutional reform.”
Rama, a painter by profession, built his political reputation as mayor of Tirana, where his supporters credited him with bringing order to the chaotic post-communist capital. He described the city as an “artistic project” as he transformed its grey facades with bright colors, and its renewal helped define his image as a modernizer in their eyes. Albania has made huge strides since then toward European Union accession while recording some of the strongest growth in the region, supported by tourism, construction, and services. The frustration is that the gains have not reached enough people.
As summer temperatures soar, water and electricity are focus for many. Albania is one of Europe’s most water-rich countries; it produces most of its electricity from hydropower. But the quality of tap water is generally poor, forcing many households to rely on bottled water, while electricity generation is heavily dependent on rainfall. Healthcare is not fully free or universal, and there are gaps between services in rural and urban areas. The standard of learning ranks below the European average.
Roughly 40.5% of Albanians were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2024, INSTAT’s latest living-conditions survey shows, with almost a third facing severe material and social deprivation. As the country becomes a new tourism hotspot, more than half its citizens cannot afford a week away each year, according to the same survey. The average gross monthly wage is about 90,000 lek ($1,084). And the 2023 census recorded about 420,000 fewer residents than in 2011, reflecting continued emigration — the diaspora is larger than the population.
“For a long time now, nothing in this country has been going the way it should,” said one protester, who identified himself only as Boris. “There needs to be change. We are asking for change.”
Rama said he acknowledges the concerns and fears of genuine protesters, in emailed comments to Bloomberg on June 24, describing the mood as a “revolution of rising expectations,” and explaining that people often become more dissatisfied “not when life gets worse, but when it gets better, because their expectations rise even faster than reality.”
He vowed to move ahead with his plans to develop premium tourism to help create jobs and fuel growth. At the same time, he said the government would act if facts, legal procedures, environmental studies or EU obligations showed that something had to be changed, improved or stopped. “That would not be a concession to the street,” Rama said. “It would be the duty of the state.”
10 Demands
Every night since June 1, when the protests spread from the coast to Tirana, crowds have been gathering outside government buildings, with national flags and homemade signs. They chant against corruption, the political class, and the laws they say ease projects like those planned by Kushner for the Zvernec peninsula and the island of Sazan.
Environmentalists stand alongside students, pensioners, families, and members of the diaspora. Around 250,000 people were estimated by some local outlets to have attended last Saturday’s rally, the biggest so far. They organise through social media, and they have a list of 10 demands.
On Wednesday, one activist read them out on a central square, to cheers. They include calls for Rama and his government to resign and be replaced by a 12-month non-party technical government; constitutional changes such as a two-term limit for prime ministers; and reforms to the electoral code and party-financing rules, followed by a referendum on the changes. Protesters also seek the reversal of amendments to laws on protected areas and cultural heritage, as well as the abolishment of the legal framework for strategic investments.
Large stretches of coastline are under tourism development or planning, including the €2 billion ($2.3 billion) Durres Yacht and Marina. Apart from concern over the extent to which ecologically sensitive sites are being affected, there’s debate about how much the investments will improve living standards. While they are creating jobs in hospitality, transport, and local services, especially for women, many of them are low paid and seasonal.
The projects have also deepened concern over the way public land, permits and strategic-investor status are awarded in Albania, where prosecutors have been investigating corruption cases involving senior officials. “Corruption is one of the main factors behind this dissatisfaction. For many years, citizens have had the feeling that corruption is widespread,” said Krasniqi, the historian, “and that political and legal responsibility is missing.”
Rama, 61, has been in power longer than any other Albanian premier since the fall of communism; his Socialist Party won an unprecedented fourth term last year and controls enough seats in parliament to govern alone. Critics say his influence extends across local government, public administration, and business networks.
Yet, while the rallies have exposed the depth of frustration with Rama, they have also highlighted the weakness of the forces opposing him. The same protesters calling for him to resign do not want the old opposition to take over. Former president and premier, Sali Berisha, Rama’s main rival, is a polarizing figure whose presidency ended after the collapse of Albania’s pyramid schemes plunged the country into economic crisis and unrest in 1997; and he is sanctioned by the US state department for alleged corruption. Berisha denies all accusations.
That leaves the protests powerful in the street but unresolved politically. While they can force scrutiny of the resort projects, sharpen debate over poverty and corruption and embarrass Rama — just as Albania is trying to sell itself as a stable EU candidate and investment destination — they have not yet produced a challenger who can channel the anger.
Rama rejects the idea that protests damage Albania’s image. They are part of the democracy that the country has created on its path to EU membership, he said. He continues to insist that they are being fanned by hostile governments, without having provided any proof so far. “What damages a country is not protest,” Rama said, “what damages a country is the export of falsehoods about it.”
In the central square in Tirana, that wasn’t a concern this week. “I’m very proud that a society, which in the 1990s, shouted ‘we want Albania to be like the rest of Europe,’ has become European itself,” said 22-year-old Sidorela, “and is now telling Europe: ‘we are here, stand with us.’”
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
