Wut auf Trump-Familie! Das ist los in Albanien

Tens of thousands of people who have been demonstrating for weeks, many of them with flamingos in their hands.A prime minister who calls out to his critics, fuck you.Accusations of massive corruption, money laundering and possible environmental damage.Albania is currently experiencing fierce protests.And a role in this is also played by the son -in -law of US President Donald Trump.What exactly is going on in Albania?

Why are people so angry?That's exactly what this is about.Albania, a small country in the south of Europe.Almost 2 .5 million inhabitants, much less than Berlin.The story is varied, sometimes under the occupation of the Italian fascists under Mussolini, then for a short time under the control of the former Yugoslavia and then for several decades an increasingly isolated socialist dictatorship.Internationally, Albania was in the spotlight, especially during the Kosovo War in 1998 and 1999.

More about that in the info box below.Since the beginning of the 1990s, Albania has been a democratically governed country, with deficits.The University of Würzburg currently ranks Albania in their democracy matrix at 81 out of 179 countries.Again and again, there are reports of possible election manipulation, corruption and abuse of power.We will talk about this in more detail in a moment.On the other hand, Albania is also a country that is moving upwards.

For example, the gross domestic product has almost quadrupled since 2000, the standard of living of people is increasing and tourism, especially from abroad, is booming.This is also observed very closely in the European Union.Since 2014, Albania has been a candidate for EU membership and by 2030 the government would like to have achieved it.This puts it on a par with the population.In current surveys, more than 90 % of Albanians say that they would like to be a member of the European Union.Interestingly, if Albania actually joined the EU, it would be the member state with the highest percentage of Muslims.

Around 50 % of all Albanians profess to be Muslims.In total, it would be the EU.other countries are at the forefront, especially France and Germany.Albania is governed in the now fourth legislative period by the successor party of the former Marxist -Leninist state party, which had made Albania a dictatorship over a long period of time.With this past, the new party, which is now called the Socialist Party of Albania, wants to have nothing to do with it.It sees itself as a social -democratic party that stands up for a liberal constitution.

The Democratic Party of Albania, which has not had a major success in elections for a long time and has been in the opposition for a while.The head of government of Albania is this man here, Edi Rama, a politician with an interesting biography.He was not only a professional basketball player and was nominated for the Albanian national team in the 1980s, but Rama is also a well -known artist, whose works have been and still are exhibited internationally.Since 2017, Rama has been able to govern completely alone with his party.In the election of 2025, the Socialist Party of Albania came in at around 52 % of the votes and has a comfortable majority with 83 of a total of 140 seats in parliament.The opposition, however, suggests that Rama and his party did not play fair in this election.

His challenger, Salih Berisha, did not even recognize the result at first.And neither did the international election observers of the OSCE.abuse of public funds and pressure on administrative employees who have buried the equality of opportunities.The election day was overall calm, but there were technical deficiencies, cases of intimidation and voice buying and problems in ensuring the confidentiality of the ballot papers.In their final report, the OSCE therefore recommends a comprehensive reform of the legal framework for future elections.And the European Union is also looking at the possibility

and has sent relevant requests to Albania, so that the accession process can continue.And it was precisely in this situation that a development came about that led to today's protests.And this development has to do, among other things, with Sazan here.An uninhabited island off the coast of Albania, located between the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea.For a long time, Sazan was used militarily, and there should still be landmines and other dangerous weapons there.But little by little, nature is reclaiming the island.

Various plant species are spreading, and especially for birds, Sazan is a valuable habitat.Around 200 different species are said to live there, including flamingos.For them, the entire region is a central resting area.This is why Sazan, as part of the Marine National Park Cadaburun -Sazan, has been an important protection area for Albania for a long time.Tourists are allowed to visit the island, but only under certain conditions.That is why Sazan is considered one of the best protected and most ecologically significant islands in Albania.

This is important for the Albanians, for the visitors, and also for Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the US president.Some time ago, she visited Sazan and said this in a podcast.However, what Ivanka Trump describes here as a private island, that they would have spontaneously discovered, is actually state territory of Albania.However, this does not stop Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner from wanting to open the island as an investment location.Because this visit, as Ivanka Trump put it in the podcast, led to an intense discussion with Sassan, and it was notan idea that Zazan now wants to implement.

Zazan is to become the location of a large project with which Ivanka, her husband and some others want to make money.Namely, with a huge luxury resort for wealthy people who want to go on vacation there.And not only that, you also want to be active in the coastal area.Since 2024, there have been plans to build hotel facilities around the lagoon of Viosanarta on the southern Adriatic coast.In addition, a new airport is to be built there, in the middle of a nature reserve.The plans for the airport have even been around for a while.

In 2018 they became known for the first time and behind them is a plan of the Albanian government to get money into the country.Because through the airport it should be more attractive to go on vacation there.Between 2015 and 2024, three important foundations were laid for these plans by law.In 2015, the Albanian government, under Edi Rama, wanted to stimulate the economy with a law for strategic investments.which is not unusual at first.However, writes the citizen platform Citizens Channel from Albania, in theory, the law was based on accelerating administrative procedures for economically significant projects.

In practice, however, the status of the strategic investor created a system of privileges that gave private companies a special access to public land, coastlines, beaches, tourist areas, islands and assets of public interest.In 2022, the next decisive step was taken.The government reduced the national protected areas in Albania by 20 % and thus increased the potential areas for hotels and other facilities.And in 2024, there was a change in law that allowed, quote, five -star accommodations and related infrastructure to be built within protected areas.That means, first the Albanian government made access to investors easier, then more areas were given free in the country.and finally there was green light for particularly beautiful but also particularly protected areas.

The project of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump can also benefit from these framework conditions.In total, according to Minister President Rama, investors want to invest almost 5 billion euros in Albania and with 1 .4 billion euros, Jared Kushner is particularly extensive with his investment company The Albanian government sees such investments as a great opportunity.Minister President Rama argues that this would create jobs, tourism would be further expanded and economically weaker regions of the country could benefit.From the government's point of view, this is an important component for the economic development of Albania and its future.And a central role is played by Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners.This company has its headquarters in the USA, but a large part of the money comes from the Gulf states.

In the past, there has always been criticism of Affinity Partners, not only because of the origin of the money, but also for other reasons.Among other things, there are accusations of close links to politics, intransparency and cooperation with controversial companies.The non -governmental organization Business and Human Rights Center, for example, accuses Affinity Partners of supporting an Israeli company that is involved in illegal settlements in the Palestinian territories via investments.Among other things, one hears the accusation, at least individually at the moment, that Israel would like to occupy land in Albania, instigated by the Orthodox Jew Jared Kushner.often justified with manipulated images or videos.Ultimately, these are anti -Semitic claims without any basis.

You can find out more about this via a link in the info box.However, the support of the company in Israel is correct.Regardless of this, there is criticism that Donald Trump would mix his son -in -law's private and political interests with each other through the business,and thus make himself and his family even richer.The Democrats in the USA even went so far as to submit Jared Kushner that he would endanger the national security of the United States and now have, quote, an unprecedented amount of control over US foreign policy.Affinity Partners generally denies such accusations or does not even react to them.

But we were actually in Albania and the protests there, so what does one have to do with the other?A lot, because in the eyes of many Albanians, something is happening that they call the sale of their country.They propose to the government to give Sazan and the other areas to investors, and not only to harm nature, but also to harm the entire country.And because it is also about flamingos, these animals have become the symbol of the protests, which are also called the Flamingo Revolution in the media.The Prime Minister Edi Rama is at the center of this.His critics see him as a kind of terrorist.

a god who would personally enrich himself.Rama and his government would be called corrupt.They would be paid to harm investors in Albania.They would act like a mafia and act against the interests of the country and its population.Rama himself sees it quite differently.In an interview he says, Rama calls the protests as if they were controlled by a foreign country.

He says that Iran would be behind it, among other things, in order to harm Donald Trump and the USA.He uses an argument that was often used in the communist East Bloc protests back then, but had little to do with reality.At the same time, Rama points out that Albanian prosecutors are currently working intensively against money laundering, corruption,He sees it as evidence that the prosecution in Albania would work.However, in recent years, there have been reports of illegal sales of land to investors in Albania.According to government critics, this was just the tip of the iceberg.

They say that the forbidden businesses would reach up to the highest government circles.Only in February 2026 did the deputy prime minister of Albania have to resign because of allegations of corruption.For many demonstrators, the luxury resort project has therefore become a symbol.in their country.They demand education, transparency and prosecution.And not only that, thousands of people have been demonstrating for weeks in front of the office of the prime minister in the Albanian capital Tirana and demanding his resignation.

They also criticize opposition leader Sadi Berisha.And it is no longer just about nature reserves, although that is already a big topic.The people also protest for better living conditions in Albania.The pensions, for example, are as low as in no other EU candidate country.Unemployment is decreasing, with around 8%, but still comparatively high.And some also feel that the long government period of Rama is a burden for Albania, for politics.

They demand a deepening change in the country itself.And at least in terms of nature conservation, the demonstrators also get support from a completely different direction, namely from the European Union.More precisely from the European Commission, which demands that the changes to the law of 2015 and 2024, which we talked about earlier, be reversed.This would be important in order to bring the, quote, unambiguous national legal regulations in line with the EU ownership in the field of nature conservation.So translated, the laws have to be adapted, otherwise it could be difficult with the accession process.And that's exactly what the demonstrators are doing.

Nevertheless, they remain relatively calm.There have been exceptions so far, including injured people.However, this was mainly at the beginning of 2026.At the moment it is relatively calm, even if tens of thousands of people are still walking on the streets.There are still exceptions.So, Jared Kushner and his plans are the reason for the protests.

However, this is not the main reason.The protests reveal conflicts that have been going on for a long time, but which have long been out of the radar within the Albanian society, and which is why they are so hot right now.What does this lead to?That's hard to say.In general, however, investors are careful.Should the protests continue, they could withdraw their plans, and this could have economic and political consequences.

And even if it stays with the plans and comes to fruition, at the latest in the next parliamentary election there could be consequences.Perhaps this would also be the moment for a third party that could rise to an important force in Albania.By the way, nothing changes about the further process to the European Union.Everything remains as it was originally planned.It goes according to plan.How do you look at the situation in Albania?

Could you understand the people and their concerns?Do you even have roots in Albania and can you say something about it?Feel free to write it in the comments below.And next to me you can also find a video about the US President Donald Trump, which I mentioned earlier, and something on a completely different topic, namely the question of whether Friedrich Merz could rule alone in Germany with a minority government.Thanks for watching and see you next time.