Protests against Edi Rama’s government have continued for 127 days, while demonstrators have been called to gather again this Sunday outside the prime minister’s office in Tirana.
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The protests and political developments in Albania have been the subject of a lengthy article by the Spanish media outlet The Objective.
According to the Spanish media outlet, protesters oppose what they consider a “totalitarian and corrupt system” and are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Recent protests have also featured calls against Belinda Balluku, the former deputy prime minister and former infrastructure minister, who is under investigation by the Albanian justice system.
The Objective’s article
Edi Rama’s power in Albania is weakening. Protesters have been called to take part this Sunday in the daily demonstrations that have continued for 127 consecutive days outside the prime minister’s official residence in Tirana. In recent days, demonstrators have voiced their opposition to what they consider a “corrupt totalitarian system” and have called for the arrest of Rama and Belinda, referring to Belinda Balluku, the former deputy prime minister responsible for the country’s infrastructure, who is under investigation for manipulating public works contracts for roads and tunnels worth 190 million euros and accepting bribes, including a luxury villa, as well as for money laundering.
A former president of the Balkan republic, a former prime minister, two former deputy prime ministers, the mayor of Tirana and several senior officials from agencies with large public budgets have been put on trial, imprisoned or are facing legal proceedings.
Since last month, the country’s former intelligence chief, Vlora Hyseni, a Kosovo citizen, has been under house arrest for leaking classified information related to a corruption case to a fugitive with whom she had a close relationship: they spoke 87 times over six months.
The lack of judicial independence is one of Albania’s main challenges, but prosecutors and judges have remained steadfast in scrutinizing political power. Like Spain’s National Court, its counterpart in Tirana, the Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), is dealing with a growing number of cases involving political corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime.
Rama is a close ally of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The head of Albania’s Socialist Party (SP) often boasts of his personal friendship with his Spanish counterpart, “a wise man with unquestionable integrity,” and offered him his support when he took five days off because of legal problems involving his wife, Begoña Gómez.
“Never give up,” he wrote on Twitter, criticizing those who “manipulate the facts.” For his part, the Spanish prime minister has praised his partner’s “reformist will,” while the Moncloa Palace has highlighted the “good relationship” between the two administrations. Over the past six years, the two leaders have met at least seven times.
In recent days, protesters have denounced Rama’s “mafia,” crime, corruption and the rule of the “oligarchs” who control the country’s economy, including the Kastrati family, owners of Tirana International Airport and a wide network of gas stations.
“Albania is calling for a revolution” is one of the slogans chanted by demonstrators. Although the Mediterranean republic is experiencing rapid economic development, with a tourism boom along the coast and accelerated urban transformation in the capital, critics claim that the government is hastily issuing construction permits to facilitate the laundering of billions of euros from drug-trafficking networks such as the Balkan cartel, which controls a significant share of the drug trade in European cities, through luxury hotel and residential developments.
Dozens of newly completed or under-construction skyscrapers gleam on Tirana’s skyline: these are known as the “cocaine towers.” “Down with the narco-state” is the chant at the protests, which in their initial demonstrations drew crowds of more than 100,000 people. Recently, the FBI arrived in Tirana and handed over drug-related documentation to the Albanian justice system, sparking considerable interest in legal and journalistic circles.
The latest flashpoint in the social unrest was a project linked to Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the American president, and her husband, Jared Kushner, to build a major luxury resort. This $1.4 billion investment concerns Sazan Island, a protected nature reserve known for its large flocks of flamingos, as well as its prime location in the Mediterranean, with easy access to Europe, Africa and Asia. “Albania is not for sale” is one of the slogans at the demonstrations, which Albanians have dubbed the “flamingo revolution.”
The prime minister has argued that his administration is not giving public land to foreigners, but rather that the investors purchased the land from private owners. He maintains that an environmental impact assessment, not “roads and ideology,” will determine the project’s future, and has assured that it will meet the European Union’s environmental requirements.
The Balkan nation aspires to join the EU by 2030, but to do so it must align itself with the EU’s legal framework, including in the areas of sustainability, the fight against corruption and democratic guarantees. Rama came to power in 2013, and by 2017, suspicions of electoral fraud in that year’s parliamentary elections had already sparked one of the most significant demonstrations in recent times, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
In the latest general election, held in 2025, the controversial leader improved his results to the point of securing more than half of the vote. If social discontent and legal proceedings do not bring the legislature to an early end, the next election will be held in 2029.
By then, the opposition leader, former conservative Prime Minister Sali Berisha, will have turned 85. For now, Rama is resisting calls to resign and continues with his busy international agenda: just this week, he received European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The Socialist politician has shown pragmatism in his foreign policy, and his allies include such eclectic leaders as Pedro Sánchez, Giorgia Meloni, Mohammed bin Salman and Benjamin Netanyahu.
