By Sue Harris
June 17, 2026
U.S. land grab in Adriatic Sea provokes popular protest in Tirana, Albania, June 14, 2026.
The popular protests in Albania are now in their third week. On June 14, between 100,000 and 200,000 people poured into the streets in the capital city of Tirana to defend their country’s islands, wildlife and dignity. Other demonstrations that are part of what is being called the “Flamingo Revolution” took place in the cities of Durrës, Elbasan, Fier, Gjirokastra, Korça, Kukës, Lezha, Shkodra and Vlora.
According to June 14 Politico, the demonstrators included children, the elderly and entire families, with areas set aside for children to draw and paint. There were reports that police used water cannons against protesters in Tirana.
Now, the protests have spread to other countries in the area, including Greece. The struggle is ostensibly about a business deal started by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and daughter, to start a 10,000-room luxury resort on the Albanian island of Sazan.
This island is alternately described as beautiful and pristine, a home to flamingos and other wildlife. Ivanka Trump told how she and Jared swam to the island and then walked to the mountain barefoot to the place where they want to build their resort. The proposed real estate deal involves approximately 4 billion euros or $4.6 billion.
However, Sazan has also served as a military base in previous 20th century wars. It has not been touched since the end of its military use in the 1990s, so it still contains a great deal of ordinance from the time it functioned militarily. (IndexBox, June 14)
The protests first raised demands involving environmental concerns, to protect the flamingos and other wildlife that live on Sazan. For that reason, the protests have been labelled as “The Flamingo Revolution.”
However, the reasons for protests have grown to include the failure of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to listen to the people, instead handing over Albanian territory to a foreign power with no regard to the needs of the country’s people. There have been calls for the prime minister to step down, demands for new elections and denunciations of the wealthy elite like Trump and Kushner.
