One of the well-known French analysts of international politics, Pierre Haski, commented today in one of his columns on French public radio, on what has now become internationally known as the "Flamingo Revolution".
The journalist's opinion, which comes immediately after Edi Rama's visit to Paris, considers the protests in Tirana as a reaction to the corruption that has hindered the country's development.
Below is Pierre Haski 's full comment :
A tourist project on a protected island, backed by Donald Trump's family, has angered Albanians for weeks. The "pink flamingo revolution" is turning into a challenge for Prime Minister Edi Rama, at a time when Albania is making great strides towards membership in the European Union.
This “Pink Flamingo Revolution” has all the ingredients of our time: a protected area threatened by a tourist project, a still-unproven whiff of corruption that ignites public opinion, a stagnant prime minister in his fourth term, and, to put the seal on history, the money of the Trump family. Welcome to Albania, which has been living under the rhythm of protests for weeks to save the island of Sazan and its bird sanctuary, including the famous pink flamingos.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, a tall man with a degree in Fine Arts who sees Albania’s dream of joining the European Union moving ever closer, has been outraged by the protesters’ accusations that he is personally targeted. He has rarely been seen in such a low-spirited moment as in an interview with the Financial Times yesterday, where he told the protesters: “Let them go f…hen!” It is not my job to prove that I am not the Godfather; it is their job to prove that I am,” he said angrily in the face of corruption allegations.
Last week, he accused Iran of fueling the anger of protesters on social media due to the presence in Albania of several thousand members of the People's Mujahedeen Organization, an Iranian opposition group sheltered in the country after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
-
CNN opens the microphone to Albanian protesters (Messages)
June 24, 16:27
It all started when Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the US president, released a video talking about a paradise island she had "discovered" during a yacht trip in the Mediterranean with her husband, Jared Kushner. Then came the $1.4 billion tourist project, backed by Donald Trump's son-in-law's investment fund.
The Prime Minister raises a question: would this project have caused the same controversy if it had not been linked to the Trump family? It is difficult to say, especially when a part of the Albanian coast has been massacred by uncontrolled tourist investments, without causing similar protests.
But, despite what Edi Rama says, this has already turned into a significant political crisis in Europe's poorest country, where corruption has been one of the main obstacles to development since the emergence from the most dogmatic communism, more than three decades ago.
This "Pink Flamingo Revolution" resembles many spontaneous movements we have seen in recent years in various countries around the world: without leaders, without avant-garde organizations, but with the ability to mobilize large crowds of people.
Léa Ypi, the most prominent Albanian intellectual and professor of political theory at the London School of Economics, has given her support to the movement. She sees it as a model of civic activism not seen since the end of communism, a demand for democratic respect. However, during a visit to Paris this week, she was realistic about the lack of a political perspective that characterizes such social movements.
The protesters' slogan, "Albania is not for sale," clearly reflects an ideal that carries hope at a time when the country is preparing to enter the European Union, in principle before 2030. Ninety percent of Albanians support this membership, but at the same time show that they are not ready to sell their country to whoever offers the most money. It remains for Edi Rama to convince the "Pink Flamingo Revolution" that he is not the "Godfather"; but he will not achieve this by insulting the protesters. ©lapsi.al
