The last time Albanians forced their prime minister to defy Washington, Edi Rama had been in the job for two months. In November 2013, the United States under then-President Barack Obama asked Albania to host the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. Thousands took to the streets of the capital, Tirana, and stayed there for the better part of a week. Rama gave in, appearing on television to say it was “impossible for Albania to get involved in this operation.” The refusal cost him almost nothing. The U.S. said it respected the decision, and Albania carried on being one of the most reliably pro-American countries in Europe.
Nearly 13 years later, Albanians are on the march again, and once more, the controversy stems from the United States. Since late May, tens of thousands of Albanians have gathered almost nightly against a multibillion-euro luxury resort on the Adriatic coast linked to President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump. Protesters named the movement after the flamingos that breed in the protected wetland the development would encroach upon.
On July 23, police used water cannons and tear gas to clear the demonstrators from the square outside parliament, the sharpest confrontation of a campaign that had been largely peaceful. Rama’s answer to popular protests this time is that there is “absolutely no chance” the investment will stop while he remains in office.