Trump Family SCRAMBLES as MASSIVE Protests Against IVANKA GROW!!

We've got some incredible breaking news.The European Parliament on Wednesday telling Albania by way of a resolution that was adopted on the 2025 commission report on Albania.that Prime Minister Edi Rama in Albania needs to reverse, reverse that country's laws and positions when it comes to the ability of projects like Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's insane 10 ,000 -bed luxury resort in environmental wetlands that historically were protected.Now, what's fascinating is this.Lawmakers in the European Parliament telling Albania that they need to have an immediate moratorium on any new permits and construction in environmentally protected areas.And they stated that Albania risks losing its momentum in its accession process in the European Union if it goes ahead without any concentration.

or contemplation, excuse me, of environmental impact assessments.The European Parliament and Commission pressuring Albania to reverse changes in its laws when it comes to protected areas and to repeal its strategic investment law, which opened the door to projects such as Jared Kushner's.Italian MEP Ilaria Sali stating.During debate on Tuesday, quote, Europe should pay close attention to what's happening in Albania.There's no better guarantee for the path toward accession to the European Union than a living conscious people capable of mobilizing against predatory capitalism in defense of justice, the commons and freedom.This is exciting news.

This is after more than 20 days of continuous protests.Just this past Saturday, more than 200 ,000 protesters taken to the streets in Albania.And look, folks, this is not just in Albania.We have protests in Italy, Germany, France, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden and Australia.People are fighting back against the predation of capitalists and specifically an oligarchy like that of Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and those capital and elitists that want to invade and intrude on protected environmental wetlands to be able to just build something to make more damn money.Now, I wanted to make sure, because here at Katie Fang News we were one of the very first independent news platforms that was covering what was happening, the Flamingo Revolution as it's being called in Albania, and to explore the very, very shady and corrupt connections between oligarchs in Albania as well as the Middle East region, Jared Kushner, and others.

But I wanted to make sure that we actually had the real boots -on -the -ground reporting and analysis that wasn't just coming from what you're reading on the internet.So, I made sure that I invited to the Katie Fang News Channel the person who'd be able to answer all of that for us and to give us a little bit more insight into why this revolution has pushed forward over more than just the environment.It's actually a revolution.to fight back against the haves versus the have -nots.

Take a listen.

of The Under Report, providing critical and essential geopolitical analysis, also giving us some incredible on -the -ground journalism.You can find it on Beehive, and you can also sign up for an amazing brief every week called Free Intel.But Eric, it's good to see you.Thank you for joining me from so far away.You're currently in Albania, is that right?

I am, yeah, and there is a very active revolution

pretty comprehensively.So really 30 ,000 foot view before I was able to stumble on and really appreciate the work that you've been doing in your journalism, but kind of 30 ,000 foot view I covered here at Katie Fang News, what's happening in Albania.And this was maybe almost a week and a half ago.And since then, what is called the Flamingo Revolution.has really taken fire.And I'm relieved to see that more people across the world are paying more attention to what is going on.

But get folks up to speed here as to why there are literally tens of thousands of people that have taken to the streets for nonviolent protests on the daily to be able to fight back against not only the proposed Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump project, but also kind of fighting to maybe overturn this existing government.

Yeah, that's right, Katie.It really has sort of sparked the imagination of a lot of the world, and I think that's for a couple of reasons.The Flamingo Revolution is essentially about government corruption and overreach.You know, Albania came out of isolationist communism about 30 years ago.And ever since then, there has been a sort of two -sided revolving door of extractionary oligarchs who have taken power and promised that the lives of the people would get better and made their own lives much better within a couple of years while they were in office.The deals that they ended up cutting look a lot like the deal around Zvernets and the Sazon Island.

So specifically, it was a unilateralbetween Eddie Rama's government and Affinity Partners, who is the private equity fund of Jared Kushner.And the idea behind it was that they would sort of open this portion of Albania, which happens to be protected wild lands to specifically elite level tourism.And when I say elite level tourism, I mean, pretty astoundingly elite -level tourism.I was fortunate enough to leak some documents recently which show that the hotels that will likely be going into the area, or at least purportedly going into the area, are businesses like Chaval Blanc, Cipriani, you know, the highest of the high end.But on top of that, they also claim to have a marina which will only support megayachts.

So 100, 100 meters and above, if anybody has a 99 meter yacht, unfortunately, you won't be able to go to the marina.And then it also includes a full equestrian center with I think 2000 meters of stabling and a life extension therapeutic center, the likes of which I haven't heard about recently.But you know, the the bottom line is the people on the ground in Albania, Their quality of life and the amount of money that they get on a monthly basis has not increased, except they have seen the oligarch class of Albania get wealthier and wealthier as they move private funds and private resources, even protected private resources like these wetlands, directly into the investment portfolios of people like Jared Kushner.And so that's what this is.This is really a referendum on this sort of transnational elite class that uses financial firepower to essentially take overareas that they just say they want as an investment vehicle.

And I think the reason that it's spread is because we see this all over the world.And so right now I think we're at almost day 20.You know, every day, everybody meets at around 6pm.There's probably about two hours of speeches, and then the march goes every single night.And, you know, I'll say from being out there more or less every night, I think the entire city is tired.Everybody, you know, wakes up a little bit later now and I think hits news a little bit more because they know that they're going to be out in the streets marching all night.

And they hope that eventually this will bring governmental change, particularly an end to the government of Adirama.

Yeah.Fascinating to hear it because the parallels between the fight in Albania and the fight in America are profound, are they not?I mean, part of what you're seeing here in the United States is a push to be able to highlight and amplify the inequities that we see happening as well.A billionaire oligarch class that continues to gobble up more and more resources.In Albania specifically, there's also this issue as well.which is the ability for the elite class to be able to make sometimes fraudulent claims of ownership on a lot of very valuable land.

And those that actually have generations of ownership claim, unfortunately sometimes can't literally afford to fight those claims in court.Maybe they can't hire a lawyer or maybe they can't afford the fees.And so you have this just kind of just black fog of this elite class that comes in and is just gobbling up not only the land, but to your well -taken point, the resources.

Well, and I think that it also really highlights this idea that there are sort of parallel sets of laws in the world, that there is a transnationalelite class that plays by their own rules and is rarely brought to brought to responsibility for their actions.And then there's the rules that we all have to follow.And I'll say, I'm an American citizen, but I've lived in Albania on and off for about seven years now.I was originally a Peace Corps volunteer here.So I've lived in the more rural areas for a couple of years, and I've served as an English teacher out here and helped do some development projects here as well.

And I think that one of the things that we miss in the United States when we don't interact with countries like this on a day -to -day basis is the fact that the day -to -day graft and the day -to -day corruption is so much more pronounced because it's really woven into the fabric of life here.The fact that in the United States it would be galling for somebody to have to pay a bribe to a doctor to make sure that they could get appropriate care at a hospital, that's astounding, but it's absolutely common here in Albania.Paying bribes to police officers, in some respects it's even paying bribes just to get official documentation.I've heard that the going rate for a driver's license if you don't want to take the test is just around 200 euro.But it even climbs the ladder further up to the sort of channels of power.And that's the fact that, you know, if you want a government position, well, you should be prepared to pay around 2 ,000 euro for it.

And, you know, at the same time, the eurozone and accession to the eurozone has sort of been held out to the Albanian population as this carrot that if only they can write their internal ship uh then eventually they will have access to the full eurozone but you know it's not the ground level people who are theones who are abundantly corrupt it's the people that are at the top it's those that you know, make deals for, in one case, a set of incinerators when they were dealing with a garbage problem.And some of them were just never built, though they were paid for.There was the mountain package, which I believe was essentially taking ancestral lands, and then giving them to the highest bidder for development.And you know, this is a country that was in isolationist communism.So having the deed to your land is not exactly something that everybody has, because it was nationalized for 50 years.

So it was an understood thing.And what is so important in Albania is the strong cultural bond, the communities of Albania themselves, they have an understanding of who owns what, but the government has displayed time and time again, that that's just not a high priority.

Eric, let's get folks in a state of mind to understand who the players are here.You talk about the government.Talk about, and correct my pronunciation, because this is what I love about being able to interface with people who are on the ground where these stories are.Is it Eddie or E .D.Rama?

How do you pronounce the first name for this guy?

Sure.So the current leader is Eddie Rama.And I should say, one of the common uh, refrains that you'll hear every night as people are marching is, uh, Rama Borg, Barisha Borg.Uh, what that means is, uh, Rama, jail, Barisha, jail.Uh, and the, the chant is essentially stating that they want both sides to go to jail.They, the opposition leader is a guy named Sali Barisha, who has been basically in power since the end of communism.

And then, I believe, for the last 13 years, it switched over to the Socialist Party of Eddie Rama.Now, of course, when I say the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party, these don't map on to American...

Yeah, exactly what we think of.Exactly, exactly.

You can you can sort of vaguely think of the Socialist Party as is vaguely the left and and the Democratic Party is vaguely the right but it it's really hard to make a one -to -one comparison because especially the people on the street are seeing both sides as Intrinsically corrupt so it is so corrupt in fact that they they want all of them out And that I think is one of the reasons it's one of the strong points of this revolution But it's also one of the weak points of it, too when they're saying that we want both sides out, we're... making it very clear what we don't want.Of course, I'm speaking from the point of view of the protesters, but we are not making it very clear what we do want.And that, I think, you know, 20 days into this revolution is going to be something that needs to be sketched out more clearly if they hope to make lasting change.Of course, they want certain laws to be revoked.They want an end to what is called the Special Strategic Investment Fund.And this is one of the main problems.

Eddie Rama's government has created this quote -unquote strategic investment fund that he also appointed himself the leader of.And apparently, he is the only one who can determine if an investment is strategic enough.And shockingly, these often involve billionaire forensicists.

And shockingly, they also allow strategic investors to be able to access protected environmental wetlands so that he can overturn those designations so they can actually use them, correct?

Right.You know, I would love to understandYou know what I actually should be I should be fair here because they have talked about the strategy before Whether it is a good one or not is is really up for you know the the economists But what I can tell you is that that it has has sparked the current unrest that we're seeing so one of the things that Eddie Rama has previously put forward is the fact that they want to attract high -end tourism and the reason for this is because they believe that you'll essentially have a smaller footprint in the area, and more money coming in to the area.So you have fewer people paying higher ticket items, and presumably this will help the economy of Albania.And I just don't see those dollars making sense, because tourism economies are usually passed through.The money goes to the owner -operators of these businesses, transnational brands, you know, it's the money is not going to Albanian citizens.

It's going to Cheval Blanc, it's going to Cipriani, and it's going to the people who are building these areas.So I think that argument falls flat.And as far as the protection things, the, you know, Eco Albania, PPNEA, all of these, even some of the folks in Patagonia have been around for All of them have said that this is essentially just an environmental atrocity that they're going to commit.But if you look at the documents, you do see a lot of pictures of wildlife on them.

Well, I mean, to your point, maybe an economist could convince us otherwise.But at this point, part of the challenge has been and part of the drive for the protesting has been a lack of transparency.Yes, it is a anti -corruption movement because this wholedeal with Ivanka and Jared stinks to high heaven.The timing of it, the rollout of it, I mean, it really smacks of pay to play and it smacks of corruption.But if there is transparency on this, you know what's so funny, Eric, is it just dawned on me while you were explaining how Eddie Rama has kind of self -anointed himself to be able to do this, right?

Well, it reminds me of this guy who's running the Utah State Senate.He is the head of this MIDA, this military industrial kind of entity that is able to green light the data centers that are these huge atrocities that are being proposed to be built, like in Utah, for example.And it's amazing how these people in power can put themselves in positions to be able to gatekeep this moving forward.But from what I've read and from what I hear, It's the lack of transparency.There's no environmental impact studies.There's no disclosure of how this deal came to be.

The timing of it, again, being suspicious.I mean, that's a very big part of the demands that I have been hearing from the protesters.

You're exactly right.And you know, one of the things that I really want to point out about this, the environmental issues are really the tipping point for the current protests.And I think what they've done is they've highlighted all of these years of abuse through extractionary practices and government corruption.But, you know, one of the things that I was really, really glad that my source trusted me with these documents, was that upon looking at the documents, so what I released recently, and you can go to the end of report .io to read the documents for yourself.One is a request for proposal for tendering architects.

And then the other is a full vision document.And within the vision document, we see some critical details there.First and foremost, we see that the environment they understand there will be major environmental impacts.In fact, they even break out various groups in the document that they express expect pushback from like eco Albania.The document also shows that an environmental assessment needs to be performed, and it, of course, indicates that it is continuing to be performed.None of that has ever been shown to the public, and the disregard for the public has been truly astounding.

Not only the disregard for the public, but for the international media as well.So you'll see quite a few interviews with Eddie Rama, where not only is he abusing reporters, which I think is just tasteless, but, you know, that's neither here nor there.It's unfortunately common nowadays.But what we also see is a sort of constant wavering on what exactly is going on.One moment he'll say there is no project.The other moment he's saying, oh, well, people are coming on to us with ideas, but we're not going to necessarily go through with those ideas.

But the reality of the situation is the fact that bulldozers started rolling through a protected wetlands.They started building.They put up fences.And were it not for the protesters in the area being alerted to this construction, we would have never had this movement in the first place.

It's remarkable because sometimes it takes a small spark for a bigger conflagration, right?And I do think I like your descriptor, Eric, that this was the tipping point.It is important to protect the environmental wetlands that are there.I have watched several videos on YouTube about how stunningly beautiful and how pristine that water is.but also the myriad animals, birds.I mean, there's a reason why they're calling it the flamingo revolution.

It's kind of like emblematic of what it is.But what I'm looking for is, is there someone who is kind of, in your assessment, being on the ground there, looking like the leader of this opposition, opposition, this new opposition?There's just somebody that is kind of stepping forward and being like the biggest voice you think on this?

You know, there have been a lot of conversations about this, I think both internally and then for folks that are looking at this externally, too.And the answer is, I have not seen somebody step forward just yet.And I think that part of that is by design.I think that a big Part of the strength of this is that it has become so anti -partisan and you know because of how partisan Albania is it is very difficult for anybody who previously had a party of issue affiliation to come forward and say and I'm going to be the person you know the the the protests I've described several times publicly as remarkably self -policing.I mean, you know, quite literally, if somebody is using foul language in the protest, they'll be shushed and, you know, sort of browbeaten until they act correctly.You know, when I go out to the protest every night, To cover it, I noticed that probably around maybe like night 10 or so, there was a huge ream of butcher paper that's been laid across the ground with crayons and chalk so that the kids can draw while their parents are protesting.

And so a part of the robustness that we're seeing is due to the fact that it really hasn't been poisoned enoughpartisan politics yet.But again, as I say, this is the strength, but it's also potentially one of the vulnerabilities of movement.At a certain point, the rubber needs to meet the road and there needs to be political change that is satisfying to the people, and that needs to be articulated through one person.Otherwise, I think what happens is, You know, some of the fears of people who are protesting are they're concerned that something will happen, a .k .

a.there will be violence or somebody will take over that they don't stand behind.Or they're also afraid that nothing will happen.That essentially the incumbent government will just wait out the protesters and eventually call it a day and they will stand by and watch as bits of their country are auctioned off to the highest bidder and they're unable to Access these areas that were once the birthright of a people that went through isolationist communism and if nothing else it left them with a fairly well -protected wildlands.This really is the last space of biodiversity in Europe.

You know, Eric, I would note that more than 200 ,000 protesters came out just a few days ago, so it continues to swell.And this is why I wanted to have this conversation, not only to gain knowledge from somebody who's on the ground, but somebody who understands the spirit of the people there and understands why they're doing what they're doing.You can't get that from a cold read of an article or, you know, anything like that.I do want to have the privilege of spending just a few more minutes with you to talk about where you're going next.Is that okay, if I can talk about that?

Can I mention one more thing about Albania that I think is pretty important?And I'm probably going to develop an article about this.because there's really only so much that I can do as an on -the -ground reporter when I see an astounding amount of mis -dis and malign information.And I actually have my master's degree in national security, and I specifically studied that.

Is this about the military stuff?

Oh my gosh.OK.So it's the military stuff.It's about, I mean, There's so much media manipulation about this.You know, I don't necessarily think that it's willful media manipulation.What I think it is is I think that it's a series of willful misunderstandings where people are laying their own political priorities on something that doesn't necessarily carry it, right?

Here's the platform to debunk, my friend.You are welcome to debunk.

allow me just a couple minutes to debunk the major ones.Okay, so one of the biggest ones is that the island is not going to be a series of luxury hotels, it is in fact going to be turned into a military island, which will eventually shut off the Strait of Otronado for some reason.So, several reasons why that doesn't make any sense.One, you know, the island has been in the possession of Albania for over 100 years.And if it was no strategic, Albania presumably would have shut off the strait at some point.I think the reason that people are sort of believing this a little bit more is because, of course, the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of the Bab al -Mamdab are in the news.

And when we hear strait, we think, oh, you know, military leverage.And that's simply not true.That won't happen from Sazon Island.Also, if they were going to put military in there, whose military is it?Is it going to be NATO?Like, all the countries around here are all NATO.

Is it going to be the United States?Probably not.We have four major NATOThe other one is there is a video that is very clearly AI going around which purportedly shows Albanians kicking what are claimed to be Israeli settlers off of the island.That is not accurate at all.There was also a doctored image which showed the Sazon Island, a fence around Sazon Island which had an Israeli flag on it.

was doctored, that was not happening.That has not happened.There's one image of a firebombing that happened, and that actually was real.There was a firebombing.However, it wasn't with this protest.It happened in February, and that was with a series of other protests.

And the firebombing was not the House of the Prime Minister.That was a video of a firebombing of the former dictator, Enver Hoxha's house.So it is so hard to sort through all of this, and I'm finding it that in the internet it is a bit of a thankless task to attempt to debunk these things, but I'm gonna keep fighting the good fight because it does matter.

Well, this is why these conversations are important.I mean, this is why I want to use my platform for good, right?This I want people to have a better understanding because we can't be your kind of our eyes and our ears there, Eric, which is why I wanted to make sure that people not only got to know you, but that we have this conversation.And so thank you for debunking that.I appreciate it.Talk about Lebanon.

You're on your way to Lebanon.I want to make sure we gave a little bit of space here for that, because that is yet anotherarea that is not being reported on enough, that's not being covered enough.It's kind of a tangentially mentioned topic when we talk about the war against Iran because of Israeli attacks and military operations against Lebanon.And now we have this news of a potential quote unquote deal, although I don't believe there's a deal.I don't really understand because nobody knows what's going on.

But why is it so important, Eric, for you to go to Lebanon right now?

So I think that one of the reasons that the international media has really strayed away from talking about Lebanon is one, because there's only so much of the story that I think people can pay attention to at one point.And if we're going to choose one part of the conflict to cover, obviously it's going to be Iran and the United States.However, we have, we the United States have locked ourselves into a fairly dangerous game.And that is the fact that we have sort of four ways conflict that is self -reinforcing and has a bit of a problem with ever finding some resolution.So in Iran, the United States has tied any sort of peace deal to making sure that Iran is able to come to the table and open up the Strait of Hormuz, which of course we have to state was previously open before we launched this war of choice.Iran has stated that the only way that they will actually come to the table is if Israel removes itself from southern Lebanon and stops fighting against Hezbollah there.

Now here is the big problem.The war in Iran is motivated by the relationship with Israel.I think that's fairly clear at this point.And Israel has stated that it will not withdraw from Lebanon.southern Lebanon, specifically because they do not believe that Hezbollah has been disarmed.Now, where do we all stand right now, specifically?

The United States is approaching a peace deal with Iran.Presumably, I mean, we will see what happens.I'm actually flying to Lebanon on the night of the peace deal, so it should be an interesting welcome to the country.Yeah, should be an interesting time while I'm there.But what we have is Iran's agreement with the United States is predicated upon a ceasefire and a rolling back of any sort of violent action in southern Lebanon, and frankly, central Lebanon and Beirut.There have been multiple ceasefires between Israel and I should say Hezbollah, but I will say, you know, a good deal of the Lebanese armed forces have also been attacked by Israel.

And according to Israel's own adjudication, they are not at war with Lebanon.They are at war with Hezbollah within Lebanon.And I've made a video on this if people want to sort of understand the complexity a bit more.Unfortunately, the way that the Lebanese government is set up is it's this sort of tripartite, what they call a confessional style of governance.So due to the constitution, the country has to be set up with one branch being a Christian, one branch being a Sunni, and one branch being a Shia.Each has around 27 seats in their equivalent of a parliament, and those 27 seats are largely sort of supported by members of Hezbollah and another group called Amal.

So in order to quote unquote just get rid of Hezbollah, this is simply a non -starter because it would require the entire rewiring of the Lebanese government.which it appears Israel wants.So from the outside, I think that the Western perspective on this is, well, why don't they just tell Hezbollah to take a hike and get out of town?It simply isn't that - It's not that easy.It just isn't.And that's because, you know, even though there may be a great deal of people who disagree with Hezbollah, which I know that there are, they have still operated as one of the more competent fighting forces against incursions by Israel.

And currently, about half the country is occupied by Israel up to what's called the Latani River.We have around 1 .2 million internal refugees inside of Lebanon.And each one, I've I've been talking to my folks on the ground there, is preparing themselves to go back to their villages at some point.Meanwhile, Israel is saying, we will not leave.And they've set up what are called these yellow line zones.The yellow line zones are things that we've seen in Gaza as well.

They're essentially free fire zones.So really, when we, the reason that I think it is so important to cover Lebanon, obviously there's an enormous human cost here.There's an enormous amount of devastation that we've seen in southern Lebanon and it simply has just not been had eyes on it the way that I feel it deserves.But at the same time, the story of reaching an end to conflict in Iran between the United States and Iran and Israel, it leads through Beirut, and it is not a part of the story at this exact moment.And I think that if we actually are serious about understanding where we are geopolitically, then we actually have to go to the ground level and understand what the day -to -day life is like.I think everybody in the United States really understands this right now, that politics

not something that you do every four years in a voting booth.It's something that you do every time you go to the grocery store, or every time that you go to fill up your gas tank.or every time that you sort of police your language because you don't know who exactly you're talking to.The politics are personal.They happen on an everyday basis.And if we don't understand the everyday people of a country that we are currently devastating, or at least assisting in devastating, then we truly can't understand the politics that we're making in the future.

That's such a beautiful way of putting it.And I want people to be able to continue to follow your hard work.Where can they go to follow you and to support you, Eric?

Sure.So I think probably the best place will be either my TikTok or my Instagram.I post probably around three to five stories there every day.And we really do cover pretty much the the top five stories that I'm following every single day.If and when I am reporting on the ground, then a lot of my coverage will be sort of subsumed of just whatever is in front of me.Otherwise, my newsletter is a fantastic way to support me. I'm entirely independent, so nobody can tell me what to write and not write, but also nobody gives me a paycheck except for my readers.

So if you really want to support my work, then please do become a patron.you'll get some extra analysis and some reports from on the road from me.And I think that, you know, later this summer, I'm working on some other stories for underreported conflict zones.And if I can gain some more support, then I'll make sure to continue along because, you know, unfortunately, for the very reason that it is difficult to do this is like the logistics are such that the big news organizationsjust can't, you know, cover the blow -by -blow every single day.So I'm very blessed to have my subscribers and people who are following along and sharing.

And obviously, all of my material is free, and if you do want to support, I really appreciate it.Oh, I also put out a weekly podcast, too, and that's really just sort of storytelling from the world of national security and geopolitics.

Listen, Eric, I'm a huge fan.I am grateful.Shout out to our mutual V Sphere.

Shout out to V and the Dust Bunnies.

We are grateful for their hard work and for their being such a connector to bring people like you into my sphere so that I can not only learn from you, but I can also amplify your hard work.We'll make sure to include links to your handles, et cetera, in the below caption for this episode.But thank you, Eric Zuliger, for joining me.Don't have to say it, but we'll say it anyway.Please be safe in your journeys and look forward to following along when you are in Lebanon.And thank you for being so thoughtful.

I appreciate it.

You bet.Thank you so much.Lovely to be here.Thanks, Eric.