Albanian Protesters Celebrate as PM Backtracks on Controversial Environment Laws
balkaninsight.com
Protesters in Albania hail 'moral victory' after PM Edi Rama declares in Brussels that his government will revisit controversial laws that pave the way for a luxury resort linked to Donald Trump's family.

During a joint conference with European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos in Brussels on Tuesday, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama promised to change the country’s disputed Law on Protected Areas to align with EU standards – a declaration that protesters at home hailed as a “moral victory”.

During the press conference, Kos was asked whether Albania’s ongoing environmental protests, nicknamed the “Flamingo Revolution”, would affect its EU integration.

“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before these protests began, we had agreed with Albania that the 2024 amendments to the Law on Protected Areas would be repealed this year, also repeal of the Law on Strategic Investments,” Kos said, referring to changes made to laws to allow luxury tourist constructions in protected areas.

Rama then said the strategic investments law would be repealed and the protected areas law changed according to EU standards. “We need to repeal the law on strategic investments, something we agreed upon some time ago, because that law has fulfilled its mission,” Rama said.

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Albanians have been protesting for 45 days, at first in opposition to a luxury resort planed in a protected area of the Vjosa-Narta lagoon with links to Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. They accuse Rama’s government of corruption.

Ervin Goci, a professor in Tirana and a protester, welcomed a “moral victory for the cause.”

“This is one of the greatest victories of the ‘Flamingo Revolution’, which compelled the Commissioner for Enlargement to condition Albania’s progress in the integration process on repeal of the Law on Protected Areas,” Goci wrote on Facebook on Wednesday, referencing rare birds threatened by planned developments.

“Don’t forget that two months ago in Narta, the most popular ‘animal’ was the bulldozer,” Goci said, adding that the real victory would be when all protected areas are saved and Rama resigns.

On June 17, The European Parliament expressed “deep regret” over two Albanian laws MEPs said put the interests of luxury tourism developers ahead of protected natural areas.

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