The European Commission this week urged Albania’s premier to repeal controversial amendments to environmental and investment legislation in order to conserve nature and wildlife – but in parliament, the ruling majority is blocking opposition initiatives to achieve this.
Blerina Gjoka
Albanian protesters were delighted on Tuesday when European Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos called on Prime Minister Edi Rama to repeal amendments to two laws that enable large-scale tourist resorts to be built in environmentally protected areas.
“This is one of the greatest victories of the ‘Flamingo Revolution’,” declared protester Ervin Goci, a professor in Tirana.
The protesters have been taking to the streets of the capital for over a month in anti-government rallies that were initially sparked by an elite resort project linked to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, in a protected wildlife area that is home to flamingos, seals and turtle nesting sites.
“Even before these protests began, we had agreed with Albania that the 2024 amendments to the Law on Protected Areas would be repealed this year, also a repeal of the Law on Strategic Investments,” Kos said.
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