More than three weeks of continuous daily protests turned the "Flamingo Revolution" into the largest protest movement in Albania since the fall of communism.
Every evening at 19:00 the demonstrators return to the same square in the capital Albania, Tyrants, wearing the same symbols and making the same demands.
More than three weeks of continuous daily protests turned it "Flamingo Revolution" in the largest protest movement in Albania since the fall of communism, writes DW.
It all started when a government-approved project to build a luxury tourist complex in Zvernec, a protected coastal area in southern Albania, sparked protests that soon turned into a wider political movement. Flamingos also live in that area, which gave this rebellion a symbol.
Initially motivated by environmental concerns, the protests have expanded to other demands, including calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Rama rejects claims that the unrest can be explained solely by dissatisfaction with domestic politics. Instead, he sees the protests as taking place within what he calls a "hybrid war," fueled by external influences and digital manipulation.
According to Rama, the controversy attracted international attention only after it was linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, who is planning to build a luxury tourist complex in Zvernec.
"The world woke up not because of the fate of the lagoon, but because of Jared Kushner's name," Rama said at a meeting of the Socialist Party parliamentary group.
The prime minister claims that what he calls a "digital cyclone" has allowed the protests to be fueled by a wide range of outside actors, including opponents of Donald Trump, pro-Israel groups and, he says, "digital mercenaries" funded by individual states.
"State-sponsored actors have been identified, including those from Iran," he said.
Jonila Godole, an expert in political communication at the University of Tirana, believes that Rama's interpretation of the protests reflects a well-known communication strategy: diverting attention from the protesters' demands to the alleged forces behind them.
"When a civil protest is presented as Iranian, anti-Israel, or the work of Trump's opponents, the focus shifts away from what the protesters are asking for. The discussion shifts to the alleged creators of the protests - the external enemy," she told DW.
Godole believes that echoes of Albania's communist past can be recognized in Rama's rhetoric. During the communist period, political dissent was regularly presented as the result of the actions of hostile foreign powers.
Professor and communication theorist Artan Fuga believes that attributing protests to algorithms is confusing the means with the cause.
Digital platforms, he says, can accelerate the spread of information, but they cannot explain why citizens take to the streets.
"The algorithm is part of the communication environment. It can speed up the spread of messages, heighten emotions and increase visibility. But it is not the cause of social discontent," he told DW.
For many observers, the turning point did not happen on the Internet, but on the beach in Zvernec on May 30.
In front of mobile phone cameras and in the presence of the police, private security dragged a protester across the sand. The video quickly spread on social media and what started as an environmental protest grew into a wider national debate about power, accountability and the rule of law.
Artan Fuga believes that these scenes resonated with the public because they laid bare the tensions that had been building up in Albanian society for years.
"It was a shocking moment for the Albanian public," he said. "That scene exposed the relationship between citizens and the state, between the individual and his rights, as well as the conflict between private interests and the public good."
Political scientist Blendy Kaysiou believes that the protests point to a much deeper crisis than the dispute over environmental protection.
In his opinion, what unites the protesters is not a common ideology, but a common rejection of the political model in Albania.
"We are witnessing a deep crisis of the Albanian democratic model. What unites these protesters today is no longer ideology, but the conviction that the political system no longer represents them," he told DW.
Kajciu believes that the protesters are trying to reclaim the public space that they believe has been gradually brought under the control of narrow political and private interests.
"The fence erected in Zvernec has become a physical manifestation of what many citizens believe has happened to the prime minister's office, parliament and political parties - that they were closed by their 'owners'."
The discussion has already reached the European Union. In its latest resolution on Albania's progress, the European Parliament expressed "serious concern" over the developments in the Vjosa-Narta protected area and called for an immediate moratorium on issuing new permits and carrying out construction work in protected areas.
The resolution states that environmental protection and the rule of law remain an integral part of Albania's obligations in the process of joining the European Union.
Jonila Godole believes that the resolution of the European Parliament shows that the European institutions have recognized the environmental dimension and the rule of law issues in this dispute.
However, he warns that presenting the protests through the rhetoric of hybrid threats and foreign interference may divert international attention from the protesters' democratic demands to issues of security and stability.
"For years, Europe has been calling for the strengthening of civil society in order to strengthen democracy," she said. "Today, Albania has a strong civil society that has mobilized on an unprecedented scale, yet international support for that mobilization is very weak. The question arises whether civil society is only welcome when it is weak, and not when it becomes a real political actor."
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