Albanian Protests Enter 35th Day, Demand Government Resignation Over Trump Son-in-Law Linked Resort

A massive demonstration once again shook the Albanian capital, Tirana, on Saturday (04/07/2026), as tens of thousands of citizens took to the streets demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, the formation of a caretaker government, and constitutional reforms to combat corruption. The protest marked the 35th consecutive night of mass mobilisation in the country. Media footage showed a sea of people marching along the city’s main thoroughfare towards Skanderbeg Square, where clashes with security forces later erupted. Angry protesters advanced on a local police station to demand the release of individuals arrested during a demonstration the previous Thursday. During the incident, demonstrators damaged and smashed the windows of the police station, prompting officers to respond with water cannon to disperse the crowd. ‘Albania anew,’ chanted the demonstrators along the main road. ‘Edi Rama, resign,’ others shouted, mockingly singing ‘Happy Birthday’ in a sarcastic jab at the prime minister. The protest, which initially began as outrage over a luxury resort development in a protected natural area linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, has since broadened into a wider anti-government movement. The mass movement, long dubbed the ‘Pink Flamingo Revolution’, uses pink flamingo balloons as a symbol of resistance against the threat the construction project poses to the local flamingo population. Saturday’s demonstration was also filled with theatrical acts of political symbolism. A large bust resembling Prime Minister Edi Rama was erected in the middle of the road only to be forcibly pulled down by the crowd using a rope. The act mimicked the historic toppling of dictator Enver Hoxha’s statue in February 1991, an event commemorated annually on 20 February. The protest also coincided with Rama’s 62nd birthday, with demonstrators bringing a mock birthday cake made of cement to satirise the government’s extensive construction and concreting projects.