by UIT-CI
6 June 2026. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Albania, beginning on 31st May and continuing for days, to protest the resort that Ivanka Trump, daughter of the US president, and her husband, Jared Kushner, want to build.
They are opposing two mega real estate projects linked to the Trump family, primarily to the US president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, which thousands of protesters consider a threat to the environment. The symbol of Albanian resistance has become associated with the silhouettes of pink birds, hence the protests are known as the “Flamingo Revolution.”
Shouting “Albania is not for sale!”, thousands of Albanians protested in Tirana, the country’s capital, for the fourth consecutive day against the tourism project led by Jared Kushner’s investment company, Affinity Partners.
The protesters denounced the construction of the resort complex, arguing it would be harmful to the environment. Some banners called for the resignation of the Albanian Prime Minister, the social democrat Edi Rama, while others depicted Rama handing over keys to Ivanka Trump, daughter of the US president.
Albania is a country in southeastern Europe with a population of 2,770,000. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, within the Mediterranean Sea. Capitalism was restored in 1991, and since then, foreign investment has increased. Poverty affects nearly 20% of the population.
According to the plan presented two years ago, the project envisions transforming Sazan Island—a former secret communist military base—into a luxury tourist destination, an operation valued at approximately $1.2 billion. Luxury hotels were also planned for the protected coastal area of Vjosa-Narta, located in the southern commune of Zvernec.
These territories border a protected coastal area with a wetland teeming with native wildlife, including sea turtle, monk seals, and the flamingos that have become emblematic of the protests.
Slogans such as “Albania is not for sale” and “Cancel the project” are among the slogans used. Others also target external actors, such as “Ivanka, go home” and “Hands off Vlora-Narta.”
Young people in Albania are leading these protests in defense of their quality of life and the flora and fauna of the disputed territory.
The demonstrations in Albania are characterized by the color pink, whether in the clothing of the protesters or in objects shaped like the flaminos that inhabit the area. The importance of the animal in the protest even led to modifications of the country’s flag: examples have appeared where the double-headed eagle on the Albanian flag has been replaced by a pink, two-headed flamingo.
The Albanian conflict is not only directed against the Trump family, but also against some local politicians. Environmental marches have come to challenge both Edi Rama, the social-democratic prime minister who governs Albania, and Sali Berisha, a veteran opposition leader who has been a major figure since the 1990s. “Rama to jail, Berisha to jail,” is one of the slogans chanted at the demonstrations. The protesters, both in Tirana and Zvërnec, consider Rama and Berisha to be “two sides of the same worn-out system” and believe they only answer to national and international elites.
