AAK political representative Labinot Bislimi was featured in a post shared by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Wednesday. In his post, Rama highlighted a statement by Bislimi, in which he described the recent protests in Albania as being organized with what he called anti-national motives.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Edi Rama’s post:<\/p>\n
“I have never met Labinot Bislimi, but I couldn’t resist sharing this post he wrote ten days ago. Thanks to a mutual friend who sent it to me today \u2014 better late than never.”<\/p>\n
THE LAND OF FLAMINGOS OR THE LAND OF EAGLES<\/strong><\/p>\n “Did you know that the word Albania means ‘the land of eagles’? That is how foreign media often refer to us. But sometimes I ask myself: are we really?<\/p>\n Over the past few days, I have been closely following the events in Tirana.<\/p>\n It seems to me like a beautiful, creative and extraordinarily peaceful protest.<\/p>\n In fact, it gives me the impression that the Albanian people needed to reconnect with themselves. To walk together. To speak to one another in ways they had not before. More than a revolt, it feels like an outburst of love. A way of saying to Albania: ‘We love you.’<\/p>\n But what kind of love is this?<\/p>\n I believe it is the love of those who feel that Albania is changing so quickly that it is slipping through their fingers. A nostalgia for a poorer, untouched Albania, still unshaped by globalization and mass tourism.<\/p>\n It is nostalgia for the Albania of simplicity, community and modest happiness.<\/p>\n The flamingos are not the true reason behind the protest. They are a symbol.<\/p>\n A symbol of old comfort, familiar stagnation and the desire to remain balanced between certainty and change.<\/p>\n The eagle is different.<\/p>\n It does not stand by the water enjoying calmness. It flies high. It searches far. It takes risks.<\/p>\n Flamingos seek comfort. Eagles seek horizons.<\/p>\n That is why I do not believe this protest is really about Edi Rama. Nor about hatred. Nor about bread on the table. Nor even about most of the slogans being carried.<\/p>\n Rather, they are different ways of expressing the same concern:<\/p>\n ‘We cannot keep up with the speed of change. We want to control it.’<\/p>\n But who will control it?<\/p>\n Those who have replaced knowledge with Facebook theories?<\/p>\n Those who talk about development without understanding development?<\/p>\n Those who see the future as a return to the past?<\/p>\n Those who live abroad, never intend to return, but love Albania only as a memory of the poverty they once escaped?<\/p>\n In the end, it resembles a protest filled with slogans, conflicting demands and a desire for attention, but with little clarity about its destination.<\/p>\n And that is why it feels more like a protest of flamingos than of eagles.<\/p>\n The land of eagles has no time to waste.<\/p>\n It must fly. It must seek new horizons. It must complete its economic and historical transition.<\/p>\n For the eagles, we must speak now.<\/p>\n For the flamingos, there will be time later.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" AAK political representative Labinot Bislimi was featured in a post shared by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Wednesday. In his post, Rama highlighted a statement by Bislimi, in which he described the recent protests in Albania as being organized with what he called anti-national motives. Prime Minister Edi Rama’s post: “I have never met […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":85416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,1803],"tags":[243,151],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n