DA Editorial Team
For three days this week, student-led protests turned violent in Tirana, and parliament cancelled a scheduled session. Violence is never the answer, and Albanian authorities are entitled to keep order. But the question behind the protests deserves a better answer than a cancelled sitting. Who decides what happens to a country’s coastline?
The protesters object to the planned sale of part of the southern coast to a luxury resort development backed by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. The demonstrations are not a flash in the pan. Reports in early September marked the 100th day of protests against the project, which had already turned violent on that occasion. A movement that lasts that long is not a mob. It reflects a belief that the people were not consulted.
Governments are right to want investment, and Albania, a candidate for European Union membership, has every reason to want jobs and tourism revenue. But coastlines are finite and public land, once sold, is hard to recover. Any deal of this kind should come with full publication of the contract, an independent environmental assessment, public hearings in the affected communities, and a clear account of who benefits. That the buyer is connected to a sitting president’s family only raises the standard of transparency required. Even the appearance of political favour can poison trust in the whole process.
The student movement is also part of a wider pattern, with protests that began in France over classroom conditions now reaching Greece. Young Europeans are telling their governments that decisions about land, schools and living costs cannot be taken over their heads. Tirana can respond by waiting out the crowds. It would do better to open the file.