Albania's 'Flamingo Revolution' Heats Up with Clashes, Six Arrested

TIRANA — Albania’s “Flamingo Revolution” heated up Tuesday with scuffles between protesters and police, only a day after MEPs arrived in the capital to voice their support for the movement. Six people were arrested.

Tuesday’s clashes marked an escalation from the peaceful demonstrations in Tirana over the past 31 days.

Originally, Albanians were targeting a proposal for a luxury resort on a pristine southern coastline linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

But over the past month, demonstrators have also called for the resignation of the entire government and the opposition, the repeal of controversial laws regarding investment and the environment which they say pave the way for projects that threaten nature, and the installation of a technical government.

On Sunday, Italian member of the European Parliament Ilaria Salis attended the protests, followed Monday by German MEP Jutta Paulus and Dutch MEPs Tineke Strik and Anna Strolenberg, all from the Greens. Salis, Paulus and Strik addressed the crowd, praising the movement and the Albanian people, and calling for the resort project to be halted.

“I believe the Flamingo protests have a profoundly European, and perhaps even global, significance. They express a popular demand for a radically different model of development — one that rejects predatory capitalism and puts people, communities, and the environment first,” Salis said in a statement after her visit.

She added the protests were a “remarkable example of grassroots democracy in action.”

On Tuesday morning, about 200 protesters gathered outside parliament as lawmakers arrived for a plenary session. Amid calls for deputies to resign and accusations of corruption, some people threw eggs at the lawmakers’ cars. Police gathered to push the protesters back, obstructing a journalist from filming. Some people at the scene suffered minor injuries, according to witnesses.

Tensions escalated further when several people hurled water bottles and stones towards parliament and deputies’ cars, resulting in further confrontations with police, followed by six arrests.

A crowd of protesters then marched to the police headquarters to demand the prisoners’ release and to condemn the police for what they called heavy-handed tactics.

Paulus said she had not seen any violence or rough language at the protests she had attended on Monday, describing a “friendly atmosphere” and “many families with children.” When asked about Tuesday’s escalation — at which she was not present — she said: “Violence is never acceptable.”

Strik emphasized that Monday night’s protests were peaceful but could not comment on Tuesday’s, as she was not in Tirana when they occurred.

One of those arrested was Dritan Goxhaj, publicly accused by the government of having links to the Iranian regime. He, along with another protester, was released after several hours.

Last week, a Kosovo citizen, Igballe Huduti, was banned from entering Albania for 15 years after she was pictured at a protest. Interior Minister Besfort Lamallari said the decision was based on information from law enforcement institutions, citing threats to “national security, homeland security, and public safety.”

This comes after Prime Minister Edi Rama repeatedly alleged foreign interference in the protests, mainly from Iran.

Jakob Weizman contributed to this report.