Zvërnec is forty minutes south of Vlorë, on the Albanian coast, and until a fortnight ago most of us could not have said so with confidence. It is the sort of name that sits lightly in the mouth—two syllables, a soft beginning, the faint echo of something Venetian or Slavic depending on which century you're listening from. The village itself is small. The lagoon nearby is a nesting ground for flamingos. The protests that began there in late May [10, 22] have now spread to Tirana, to seventeen cities across Europe and North America [15, 18], and to the placeholder phrase 'Flamingo Revolution', which is what happens when a movement needs a name before it has decided what it is.
The Guardian tells us [17] the protests began over a luxury resort project backed by Jared Kushner. Wikipedia, in its Ukrainian edition [10], notes that flamingos nesting in the area became one of the symbols of the protesters. The resort is to be built on Sazan Island and the coast near Zvërnec; the land is environmentally protected; the project is reported to be worth over €4 billion [4]. Thousands have marched in Tirana [7, 9, 10] calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, who supports the project and has characterised the protests, according to multiple outlets [7, 10, 12, 22], as part of a 'hybrid war' orchestrated by Albania's enemies and Israel. Opposition leader Sali Berisha also supports the resort [10, 12]. The protesters want both men to resign.