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Beyond Zvërnec, a change in the political elite

2026-06-08 16:27:00, Opinione Alma Lama

In recent days, I have devoted a significant part of my time to the events taking place in Albania, which have also taken over the international media and flooded social networks around the world. This global echo is understandable, because it concerns the involvement in the investment project of President Trump's daughter and his son-in-law, who are accused of using the power and diplomacy of their state to enrich family members.

Although, to be honest, I have the impression that the investment in Zvërnec is more of a robbery by local oligarchs, who are hiding behind the name of the daughter and son-in-law of the American president. But, in this analysis I will not deal with this topic, which is only one dimension of the event. The other dimension is the protest beyond Zvërnec, which is happening in Tirana and other cities, by hundreds of thousands of young Albanians.

After listening to dozens of protesters, ordinary citizens, students, modern girls and boys, I was finally convinced that they will overthrow the political class in Albania and bring in a new era. Here's why:

- Those young men and women are completely free of complexes;

- They are no different from the young people of Europe, Rome, Paris, London, Berlin, Oslo or Copenhagen;

- They love Albania and do not want to abandon it;

- They are aware of the protection of the environment, nature and natural resources.

- They want to put an end once and for all to 35 years of politics, characterized by crime, corruption, conflict, polarization, structural injustices, and a system that favors only the strong, while persecuting the capable and unprincipled.

- They refuse to further tolerate the politics that have subjugated their parents and made the state impenetrable to people without party membership cards.

But, they refuse to accept the narrative of large investments and major alliances with the powerful of the globe, because they simply do not trust Albanian politicians and are also uninformed about what is happening in the international arena.

In short, the young people in the square definitively reject the current political model that has held Albania hostage in a 35-year transition, which is the longest in former communist countries.

The word revolution is heard in their cries. (Of all the revolutions of recent years, the “Flamingo Revolution” sounds the most beautiful.)

I am not one of those who believe much in revolutions, as history has shown that they have not always brought about a better situation. On the contrary, there are many examples when they have brought about chaos or even more brutal dictatorships. Fortunately, Albania is not in a situation that can produce such upheavals, as it is in Europe, it is a democratic country, although with major problems, and it is a member of NATO.

But, regardless of what it is called - revolution or not - Albania needs to break away from the old way of doing politics and become truly European, a country where the law is respected and not where the law is changed to suit the occult interests of politicians or oligarchs.

The EU accession process should have brought about this transformation of Albania, but it has not. The extractive political model of the elites of the entire post-communist period is still the one that prevails and, as a result, we have this extraordinary increase in the gap between the poor and the rich, even though Albania has become much richer and more developed than when it emerged from communism, even though it is flooded with tourism and investment.

Albania does not need the Latin American model of development; it needs the European one, which is loved, recognized and sought by young people in protest and on social networks, who have become more active than ever before.

Prime Minister Rama, DP Chairman Berisha and other important politicians, if they do not understand this quickly and do not reflect, reform and make way, they will hardly survive the wind of the "revolution" that has begun, which may even be hijacked along the way by those who do not want the best for Albania.