Beware the gap! This is the main message emerging from the European Commission's report on Albania for 2025, which the European Parliament approved last week.
Both the Commission and the Parliament found numerous ways to highlight the gap between Albania's laws, policies and strategies as a candidate country, on the one hand, and their implementation in practice, on the other.
It is in this gap that the flamingos walk. The massive protests in Albania have entered their fourth week, with no sign of losing momentum. The government's attempts to label them as pro-Greek, pro-Serbian, pro-Iranian or anti-Semitic have not stopped the rise of the revolt. Neither the use of vulgar language nor a strangely narcissistic song have succeeded.
Dubbed the "Flamingo Revolution," after the birds endangered by a luxury tourist development, the protesters direct their anger at what they see as a corrupt political elite that is turning public land into private business.
The protesters live in a country where, on the one hand, there is a judicial reform supported by the European Union and, on the other, a deterioration in Transparency International's ratings; where, on the one hand, there is a new anti-corruption strategy and special prosecutors, while, on the other, the ruling party protects high-level officials; where, on the one hand, there are mechanisms for the fight against money laundering, while, on the other, large-scale construction related to money laundering is taking place.
Albania’s challenge to EU membership is no longer legislative; it is a lack of political will that permeates the entire system. One exception immediately stands out: security and defense policy, where the Commission praised Albania for “full compliance,” including with regard to sanctions against Russia.
The alignment with foreign policy comes as no surprise. It fits a pattern that has been followed since the fall of communism 36 years ago: Albanian governments know how to behave well abroad and govern according to their wishes within the country.
Ironically, one area where legislation and enforcement have overlapped is the tourism project involving Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and a vague mix of others. Following the extension of the 2015 Strategic Investment Law and amendments to the Law on Protected Areas, bulldozers entered the Zvërnec dunes on the coast, sparking the current protests, especially after guards beat a protester and dragged him across the sand.
Last week’s European Parliament resolution rightly took this fact into account. It criticized the Strategic Investment Law for “enabling accelerated permit granting procedures and reducing environmental control,” called for the repeal of the 2024 amendments to the Law on Protected Areas, and demanded a moratorium on new permits and construction in protected areas.
Prime Minister Edi Rama reacted immediately and promised that the project would undergo a proper environmental impact assessment. This would not have happened without the protesters and the international attention they generated, which has tarnished Rama's shining international image.
But the European Union should not be satisfied with a promise of an environmental assessment. The essential link that still needs to be made is that between this development project and the gaps that the Commission has identified in the rule of law, corruption and organised crime.
It is enough to consider the fact that the most trusted institution in Albania today is not the government, the parliament or any political party, but the Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), which the Commission rightly appreciates. During this month, SPAK issued 20 arrest warrants and seized assets worth over 100 million euros, while following the trail of drug money flowing into construction projects, including the one involving Kushner and Trump.
This is the essence of what the protesters are demanding: not a ban on tourism projects, but development and governance that respect the law.
The European Union has moved quickly to bring Albania closer to integration, largely for geostrategic reasons. In this sense, Vladimir Putin has given Edi Rama a useful boost. But ignoring the people who are now filling the streets of Albania, demanding transparency and accountability, will undermine the credibility of the European Union and betray the democratic values that the Union itself claims to represent.
The protesters are marching at a rapid pace. The European Union would do well to keep up with them.
