Albania's Flamingo Revolution: The Pink Bird's Political Moment
This summer, flamingos have been at the center of an international political movement born in Albania.
Sazan Island sits approximately four miles west of Albania’s Adriatic coastal city of Vlorë and is included in the protected wildlife enclave known as Zvërnec. Throughout much of the 20th century, the island was used as a military outpost by the Italians, Soviets and later the Albanian military as its ownership changed hands. When the Cold War concluded in the early 1990s, so too did the military occupation.
Since then, the island’s governance has been left to its natural inhabitants. Sazan Island, combined with the nearby waterways and mainland swamps, has been part of the Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park since the park’s designation in 2010.
Who are those natural inhabitants? The park hosts a bevy of wildlife in its vast array of lagoons, including 70 species of mammals, 36 species of reptiles, and 144 species of birds. The fabulous fowl is one of those 144 bird species to call the area home, but it has become the most visible of all the park’s creatures.
The Birth of a Movement
In 2021, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner enjoyed a private excursion to Albania. During their yacht trip along the country’s coast, they came across Sazan Island. The couple viewed it as an exciting opportunity.
“We have this 1,400-acre island in the Mediterranean and we’re bringing in the best architects and best brands,” Trump said on the Lex Fridman Podcast in 2024. “It’s going to be extraordinary.”
They have since brokered a deal with the Albanian government to gain ownership of Sazan Island under their Affinity Partners brand with the purpose of transitioning it into a $1.4 billion ultra-luxurious tourist destination, with another $4.7 billion intended for massive further development of Zvërnec after the island is complete. The locals are none too pleased.
Since May, anti-government protests have broken out in the Balkan nation in opposition to the development of the island. Over the months, and as the Albanian government has employed violent means to disrupt the movement, it has spread to cities across the country and into the Albanian diaspora. Hundreds of thousands of people, possibly millions at this point, have participated in these protests in some capacity since their start. Flamingos are their main emblem.
The pink bird utilizes these disputed lands not just for living but multiplication. It’s far from the only animal impacted by these plans, but its majesty and recognizability have made it an excellent rallying symbol. Inflatable flamingos, cut-outs of the fabulous fowl, flamingo flags, and anything else protestors can fashion have been seen throughout the marches, earning the movement the apt moniker of the Flamingo Revolution.
The Flamingo Revolution
Protestors have hit the streets to oppose the destruction of wildlife and the removal of their input on what happens within their own country. The deals between Kushner and the Albanian government, led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, have been done behind closed doors and without public consent, members of the movement say.
“Albania is facing a high level of corruption, with the privatization and giveaway of land, beaches, valleys, and rivers,” Arben Kola, a natural tour guide who walks visitors through the nation’s most beautiful sites and one of the earliest protestors, told the AP in June.
Fatma Paja, an artist based in Tirana, has created many of the renderings that have featured in the protests. She told the AP that this movement is about more than just the island’s development, though that certainly remains at its center.
“It is a project that has no legal basis and has not been supported by any study on the damage it would cause to the environment and nature,” she said. “I have long used art as a means to express the injustices and dissatisfaction associated with everyday civilian life in Albania.”
Agron Jemini, a water deliverer in Tirana who has become known as the “flag boy” for leading protests while carrying various flags, said his motivation to become and stay involved is rooted in more than Sazan Island.
“I came to protest against the arrogance of power and low pensions,” Jemini told Balcani Caucaso in August. “My father is a pensioner; he gets 13 thousand lek [$162.15]. If you buy a bottle of oil every day, you don’t make it to the end of the month. Let alone other food. This pushed me even more.”
The group coordinating the protests formulated five demands within the movement’s first month that it insists must be met to end the opposition. The demands include the resignation of Rama and his entire cabinet, a new constitution via referendum that guarantees all citizens full equality in the eyes of the law, and a repeal of all amendments that now allow for the development of protected natural lands.
Rama’s Response
Rama, who has held Albania’s prime minister role since 2013, has dug in his heels in reaction to the protests. He insists that he will serve out his term, which is set to last until 2029.
“I have a contract with the sovereign people of Albania, signed until 2029, and I have no intention of leaving,” Rama said in June.
The prime minister has also referred to the organizers of the Flamingo Revolution as “undignified figures” and characterized the movement as a “hybrid war” backed by foreign interests. He argues that the investment is a sign of international capital’s “vote of confidence” in Albania.
What’s Next?
Thanks to the ties the proposed project has to the family of President Donald Trump, the Flamingo Revolution has gained traction within American politics. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the most senior Democrat on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, is leading an investigation into Kushner and his agreement with the Albanian government over Sazan Island.
“From the standpoint of the American people, your decision to act simultaneously in these two roles – one public for the government and one private for personal profit – has created a glaring and incurable conflict of interest,” Raskin wrote in a letter to Kushner and Affinity Partners in April.
Protests in support of the Flamingo Revolution have spread outside of Albania’s borders as members of the Albanian diaspora take up the issue. This movement comes as Albania angles for an invitation to the European Union, and protests against the development of Sazan Island place more pressure on the Union and its member governments to respond.
The EU has threatened that the project could disqualify Albania from entry because construction could violate the Union’s environmental standards. This wrinkle further complicates the political realities of the project.
How all of this will impact the reality on the ground in Albania is murky. Rama remains prime minister, and construction on Sazan Island and future construction in the neighboring wildlife areas are still scheduled to continue. The protests have not stopped and do not appear likely to stop in the immediate future. Something must give, but what, when, and how remains unknown.
