Albania protests – In southwestern Albania, protesters defending a 14th-century monastery and protected wetlands around Zvërnec say a luxury resort fight is only the beginning. They point to years of corruption scandals, weak oversight, and political deadlock that have left them
On the edge of a lagoon in southwestern Albania. a 14th-century monastery sits where empires have risen and fallen—connected to a small island by a wooden footbridge. surrounded by waters designated as a protected wetland. Zvërnec is home to migratory birds. and it is also one of the last stretches of undisturbed coastline in a country that has watched its natural heritage erode alongside its institutions.
When plans surfaced to build a luxury resort on that land—linked to an investment connected to Jared Kushner—people came out to protect it. Their anger was real, and it was right. But protesters and critics of the deal often say the resort is not the whole story. It is the match, not the fire.
The case against the project rests on two tracks that run in parallel. On one hand. the scale of a resort like this could put Albania on the global tourism map. and the economic argument for investment in a country where tourism already accounts for around 22 percent of GDP is not trivial. On the other hand. environmental concerns raised about Zvërnec are legitimate—and people say the process that produced the plans should have faced a serious. transparent public review.
What they describe instead is a familiar pattern: national laws quietly amended, a parliamentary majority pushed the changes through, and the public left with no meaningful say. In that telling, the resort does not cause Albania’s deeper instability. It reveals it.
Since coming to power in 2013, Edi Rama’s government has promised transformation, modernization, and a clear path to the EU. Infrastructure and urban development have brought achievements. but they have been overshadowed by a series of scandals involving corruption in tenders. oligarchs linked to the government. and a lack of transparency. The establishment of the Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime. known as SPAK. has intensified the scrutiny. with former ministers arrested. the former mayor of the capital city arrested. senior officials investigated. and hundreds of millions of euros in taxpayer money tied to figures from within Rama’s own government.
For many citizens, those events no longer read like isolated misconduct. They are symptoms of a deeper systemic problem—one that goes beyond corruption. Costly infrastructure projects. opaque concessions. the concentration of economic interests. and the perception that political power serves narrow networks rather than the public good have fueled a growing sense of disillusionment. Each new scandal reinforces the belief that accountability remains elusive and that institutions are unable or unwilling to provide meaningful oversight.
There is another pressure point in the protest landscape: the opposition’s weakness. Sali Berisha, its central figure, carries decades of political baggage. Many Albanians still associate him with a political system that has long failed to deliver genuine change. Questions about political influence. family interests. and the absence of a compelling vision have left many citizens feeling unrepresented by both sides.
That tension is at the heart of today’s protests. People say they are tired of corruption in government—but equally frustrated by an opposition that they believe has not presented itself as a credible alternative. The political class that has dominated the country for decades no longer inspires confidence.
Jared Kushner and Donald Trump are part of the discussion. but protesters—according to the account here—are not in the streets because of them. They are out because their government has failed to deliver. and because the alternative they hear from politics has failed to offer anything better. The demand is not only a change of government; it is a change in the way the system itself functions.
For many citizens, the fight outside Zvërnec is about justice and accountability as much as it is about wetlands and birds and a coastline that still looks untouched. It is also a referendum on whether institutions can hear the public when the stakes are local and immediate.
What is happening in Albania, in this view, lands on a wider fault line in democratic life. One of the central challenges facing democracy today globally is that it cannot survive on form alone. When citizens come to believe leaders are at best incompetent and at worst running an insider’s game. the door to populism swings open—and authoritarian alternatives gain ground. Democracy, this argument warns, does not lose only on battlefields. It loses when it stops working for the people it is supposed to serve.
Even so, there is a note of urgency mixed with something steadier. The protests, framed here, are also a sign that citizens have not given up. People are still in the streets, still demanding better, still insisting their democracy be worth the name.
Rudina Hajdari, Acting Program Director at the Institute for Global Affairs, leads the International Democracy Fellowship. She is a former member of the Albanian Parliament and has served on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Institute for Global Affairs is a nonprofit housed at Eurasia Group. The views expressed in the article are the writer’s own.
Albania protests Zvërnec wetland Edi Rama SPAK Jared Kushner Sali Berisha luxury resort EU path corruption scandals democracy