JUST LAST year, Edi Rama was comfortably(轻松地) re-elected to a fourth term as Albania’s prime minister. Yet in recent days the usually sunny(乐观开朗的) ex-basketball star(前篮球明星) has seemed increasingly nervous. Every day since May 31st, thousands of protesters have appeared on the streets to oppose plans for luxury beach developments involving Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Because the projects threaten to damage a delicate(脆弱的) lagoon(潟湖), the demonstrations have been dubbed the “flamingo revolution”(被称为“火烈鸟革命”). The protesters say that the threats to the environment, and the risk of corruption, are so serious that Mr Rama should quit.
就在去年，埃迪·拉马还轻松连任阿尔巴尼亚总理，开启第四个任期。但最近，这位平时阳光灿烂的前篮球明星似乎越来越紧张。自5月31日以来，每天都有数千名抗议者走上街头，反对涉及唐纳德·特朗普女婿贾里德·库什纳的豪华海滩开发计划。由于这些项目威胁破坏一个脆弱的潟湖，示威活动被称为“火烈鸟革命”。抗议者表示，环境威胁和腐败风险如此严重，拉马应该辞职。
The Albanian press began reporting in 2024 on plans by Mr Kushner and Ivanka Trump, his wife, to develop two swanky(豪华的，时髦的) resorts on Albania’s southern coast. One is on the Narta lagoon, a protected conservation area(受保护的保护区) located where the Vjosa river flows into(流入) the Adriatic. The other is on Sazan, a nearby island and former military base. The lagoon is home to flamingos, pelicans and mosquitoes. Sazan has no fresh water and is littered with(布满，散落着) unexploded ordinance(未爆弹药), as is the sea surrounding it.
阿尔巴尼亚媒体从2024年开始报道库什纳先生及其妻子伊万卡·特朗普的计划，要在阿尔巴尼亚南部海岸开发两个豪华度假村。一个位于纳塔潟湖，这是维约萨河流入亚得里亚海处的一个受保护的自然保护区。另一个位于附近的萨赞岛，该岛原为军事基地。潟湖是火烈鸟、鹈鹕和蚊子的家园。萨赞岛没有淡水，岛上散落着未爆炸弹药，周围海域也是如此。
At the end of May workers began fencing off(用围栏隔开) a beach at the lagoon, and on May 30th a group of protesters and security guards clashed(冲突，碰撞) at the site. That touched off(引发，触发) bigger protests in Tirana, the capital. Albanian media have been investigating who owns the Narta land under development and how they obtained it. Apart from Mr Kushner, two Syrian brothers living in Qatar have been linked to the project. The Albanian investors include a powerful oligarch. On June 12th Albania’s independent anti-corruption agency issued an arrest warrant for an Albanian living in Miami, which included allegations of fraud relating to title deeds(产权契约) in the lagoon area.
5月底，工人们开始在潟湖围起一片海滩。5月30日，一群抗议者和保安在现场发生冲突。这引发了首都地拉那更大规模的抗议。阿尔巴尼亚媒体一直在调查纳塔土地的所有者以及他们是如何获得土地的。除了库什纳先生，两名住在卡塔尔的叙利亚兄弟也与该项目有关。阿尔巴尼亚投资者中包括一位有权势的寡头。6月12日，阿尔巴尼亚独立反腐败机构对一名居住在迈阿密的阿尔巴尼亚人发出逮捕令，指控其涉及潟湖地区的产权欺诈。