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What began as the Flamingo Revolution has quickly evolved into a patriotic movement against corruption, for economic justice, and in defence of the sovereignty of the Albanian nation, led by the youth. Demonstrations have taken place every day since the end of May, and the Prime Minister has now deployed special police forces to crack down on the protests with brutal force.
Feride Gillesberg, Vice President of the Schiller Institute in Denmark, had the opportunity to speak with Albanian lawyer, activist, and prominent opponent of George Soros and his Open Society Foundation, Altin Goxhaj. The conversation took place in mid-June, while she was in Tirana. Here, we present some excerpts in condensed form.
Feride Gillesberg: You are known in Albania as a longtime activist and opponent of George Soros and his Open Society Foundation. How did that come about?
Altin Goxhaj: George Soros has been working to take control of Albania for more than two decades. Soros controls Albania's political institutions, many organisations, and leading media outlets.
From 1994 onward, I was involved in numerous social projects that benefited local communities. I was the leader of the Albanian Youth Council, the main umbrella organisation representing different youth organisations. By 2000, I was well known in Albania for my dedication to social projects that benefited the Albanian people.
The George Soros Open Society Foundation hired me to serve on its board. However, by 2003, I had left the board in disgrace after discovering what I considered the foundation's misanthropic agenda and its destruction of projects intended to help people.
While I was working to bring people together through social projects, the Open Society Foundation undermined these efforts by splitting organisations into numerous separate units.
I decided to go public to denounce and expose the Open Society Foundation, which I alleged funded most organisations and NGOs across Albania.
The foundation's response, according to my account, was to crush me politically and freeze me out of public life. Legal proceedings were initiated against me, leading to lengthy legal battles involving 15 court cases between 2005 and 2020. My bank account was shut down for nine years, and I managed to survive with the help of friends and family.
The media slandered me, and I was blacklisted by national media outlets that I believe were controlled by Soros. I began an in-depth investigation into George Soros and discovered publications by Executive Intelligence Review, associated with the LaRouche movement. This research was crucial to my work. I wrote a dossier on Soros, launched my own podcasts to expose what I saw as his role in Albania, and established an independent political party.
Gillesberg: How did the Flamingo Revolution come about, and why did it transform into a patriotic movement among the Albanian people?
Goxhaj: Edi Rama has given Israel a free hand in Albania. Israeli companies are responsible for our national cybersecurity and surveillance. All our digital systems are controlled by Israeli companies. Our property records, biometric data, and government digital data are now under the supervision of Israeli companies.
The latest property laws make it easier for Israelis to buy land in Albania. There is an old plan, supported by documents that I believe demonstrate a hundred-year strategy by the Rothschild family to create a new Israel in Albania. George Soros, I allege, has worked towards the realisation of that plan for the past 34 years.
To achieve this, they first had to establish a political leadership in Albania willing to cooperate and sell out the nation. Soros gained influence over Edi Rama when Rama was a student in Paris and played an important role in promoting Rama's political career and the establishment of the Socialist Party in 2013, the party of which Rama is Prime Minister.
The George Soros Open Society Foundation controls our government, political elite, economy, numerous organisations, and state media, in my view. Soros has created opportunities for Israelis to settle in Albania and acts as an intermediary for Israelis purchasing Albanian real estate and property.
Real estate sales amount to $1.6 billion annually, and most buyers are Israelis, I claim. More and more Israelis are leaving Israel, with many settling here.
Meanwhile, because of poor economic policies, Albanians have been forced to emigrate, with around one million leaving over the past decade. The government of Edi Rama has begun importing cheap labour from countries including India, which I describe as friendly towards Israel, to create an environment favourable to Israeli settlers.
Edi Rama's plan to establish a Bektashi state — a Muslim "Vatican" within Albania — is, in my view, part of the plan to create a new Israel in Albania.
Rama and the Israeli intelligence services want to establish this Bektashi state, which makes no sense to me given that Albania is a Muslim-majority country. I do not believe this is a project initiated by the Bektashi community, but rather one promoted by Israeli intelligence services.
The creation of an independent religious enclave within our country would violate Albania's sovereignty and could create religious tensions. Albania could become another Lebanon, where Muslims and Christians fight each other, as has happened during the war in Lebanon. I believe Israeli intelligence was responsible for creating conditions that led to Lebanon's destruction and that similar intentions exist towards Albania.
Geopolitically, a new Israel in Albania would mean Israeli control over what I describe as the Mediterranean's "Hormuz Strait". Turkey would not stand by and allow this to happen. Albania's special relationship with Turkey has already been damaged under Edi Rama, while relations with Iran have been completely destroyed.
The government under Edi Rama allowed the United States to establish a base for an Iranian opposition group in Manzë, near Durrës. Rama then staged what I consider a false-flag cyberattack in Albania and publicly blamed Iran. This was used to close the Iranian Embassy in Albania and declare Iran an enemy state.
Returning to the historic moment we are experiencing now, when Donald Trump won the 2024 election, Edi Rama had to find a way to establish better relations with Trump, since his close relationship with Soros was not viewed favourably by the new administration.
The proposed sale of Sazan Island and the Zvërnec area to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump was, in my view, a tactical move by Rama to please Trump.
I believe Edi Rama and his close associate Soros initially intended to use the Flamingo Revolution as a political manoeuvre through which Rama could demonstrate to Trump how far he was willing to go. However, the movement took an unexpected turn and quickly slipped beyond Soros's control. In my view, events took a different course from what had been planned.
A patriotic movement led by young people and supported by the wider population emerged in defence of national sovereignty and against what protesters see as Edi Rama's plans to sell out Albania.
For more than a decade, people have accumulated frustration because of the difficult economic conditions under which the majority live. These conditions have forced approximately one million Albanians to emigrate over the past ten years.
Rumours that Kushner was buying Sazan Island and the Zvërnec area sparked public outrage.
On May 30, I joined local residents in Zvërnec, carrying Albanian flags. The area had already been surrounded by barbed wire. We were attacked with pepper spray, but one protester managed to get to the other side of the wire.
The security guards, whom I describe as Israeli-trained, captured the protester, threw him violently to the ground, and dragged him away. I compared their treatment of him to the way the Israel Defense Forces treat Palestinians in Gaza.
A video of the incident in Zvërnec, featuring what I describe as an AI-generated Israeli flag, circulated online and reportedly received 12 million views in a short time, sending shockwaves through Albania.
The incident made people realise, I believe, that the danger of Zionists seeking to take control of Albania was a possibility. In Albania, the discussion was no longer about pelicans and flamingos, but about what I described as Zionist colonisation — a danger I have warned about for years.
The Flamingo Revolution, which I believe was initially orchestrated, transformed into a patriotic movement led by young people against corruption, the Prime Minister, the opposition leader, and the political elite, whom protesters accuse of selling out the country.
The people want a future in their own country. They want justice and economic policies that serve their interests. Young people want to remain in Albania, work, and contribute to the development of their nation.
I believe this moment is not only historic for Albania but could represent a unique opportunity for the country to survive as a nation-state.
Generation Z, which plays a leading role in the protests, was born into freedom. My generation, by contrast, was born into a system of slavery.
The Torah, the Bible, and the Quran all recount the story of Moses. Those born into slavery do not see the Promised Land; only free people can see it.
We Albanians now have a generation born into freedom and democracy, and I believe these young people will save Albania.
My generation is part of the problem because we squandered our opportunities. But these young people can change Albania's history — and, with God's blessing, they will.