Lajme flash
When conspiracy theories become weapons against protest: in Albania you can be anything but a free citizen
2026-11-05 14:09:00 / IDE
In Albania, it seems, you can be anything: Greek, Serbian, Russian, Iranian, anti-American, anti-Zionist, Sorosian, Erdoganist, Marxist, anti-fascist, or a government agent. You're just not allowed to be a free and independent citizen.
This is the absurdity that has accompanied the Flamingo Revolution, the civic protest that, instead of debating its demands, has been faced with an inventory of accusations and conspiracy theories, often so contradictory as to be mutually exclusive.
From its early days, when it became clear that ignoring it was not enough to quell it, a campaign was launched to discredit the protest. Not by opposing the demands, not by debating the facts or public policies, but by questioning the integrity, identity, and motives of the protesters.
Initially, the protesters were presented as instruments of Greek interests, supposedly seeking to hinder Albanian tourist competition. Then came the Serbs, Russians, and Iranians. Later, anti-Americans, anti-Trumpists, anti-Zionists, Marxists, anti-fascists, and Sorosists were added.
A protest initiated to protect a natural area and expanded to issues of corruption, state capture, and government accountability was treated as if it were an international operation with so many sponsors.
It would seem that the entire catalog of historical enemies and protagonists of conspiracy theories, who have been fighting and plotting against each other for decades, had suddenly reached a historic consensus in Albania by sitting around a common table to organize Albanian citizens against the concreting of Zvërnec.
But this method of discrediting did not remain the monopoly of government propaganda. Even the leaders of the Democratic Party, perhaps outraged that their monopoly on anger was broken, launched accusations against the protesters.
On June 3, the number two of the DP, Flamur Noka, called the protesters "Soros' mercenaries," claiming that they were not concerned about the flamingos, but intended to attack the Trump family.
Even, according to him, Edi Rama himself was behind the organization, while the protesters were simply being used as his tools. So, Edi Rama had organized a protest against a project supported by his government, using Soros' "soldiers" in Albania to hit the Trump family. The prime minister was protesting against himself, Soros was running the operation from behind the scenes, and the Trump family was the real target.
Të vetmit që nuk kishin asnjë rol në këtë komplot ishin qytetarët shqiptarë. Ata, sipas PD-së, nukkishin të drejtë të shqetësoheshin thjesht për shkatërrimin e një zone natyrore pa u shpallur mëparë pjesë e ndonjë agjende të fshehtë ndërkombëtare.
Në këtë pikë shfaqet edhe interesi i përbashkët i dy poleve të politikës shqiptare. Njëri kërkon tëruajë monopolin e pushtetit, tjetri monopolin e opozitës, ndërsa të dy e shohin me dyshim çdoforcë qytetare që del jashtë kontrollit të tyre dhe sfidon duopolin e atrofizuar të përfaqësimitpolitik.
Kjo metodë nuk është shpikje shqiptare. Nga propaganda e Putinit dhe Lukashenkos, që i kanëshpallur kundërshtarët agjentë të huaj, te fushatat e Viktor Orbanit kundër Sorosit e kryqëzata e Nikolla Gruevskit për “desorosizimin” e Maqedonisë, e deri te narrativat konspirative tëpërdorura nga qarqe politike në Indi e Brazil, përsëritet e njëjta skemë. Sorosi shndërrohet nëarmikun universal, përgjegjës për çdo protestë, kritikë apo pakënaqësi që nuk i leverdis pushtetit.
Në vend që të përballen me pakënaqësinë e qytetarëve, drejtuesit politikë përpiqen t'i bindin atase pakënaqësia nuk është e tyrja, por ua ka futur në kokë dikush tjetër. Se nuk veprojnë me vullnetin e tyre, por nën kontrollin e dikujt tjetër.
Fatkeqësisht, kjo mendësi depërtoi edhe brenda vetë protestës së flamingove, duke nxitur tënjëjtën kulturë dyshimi, etiketimi dhe përjashtimi që ishte përdorur për ta diskredituar nga jashtë.
Papritur, edhe mes protestuesve nisën të qarkullonin akuza për sorosizëm, komunizëm, patronazhizëm, erdoganizëm, antifashizëm apo përkatësi të tjera ideologjike—sikur një lëvizjeqytetare duhej t'i nënshtrohej një testi pastërtie politike përpara se të kishte të drejtën tëkundërshtonte qeverinë.
Kjo atmosferë nxiti përpjekje për të gjykuar e përjashtuar pjesëmarrësit sipas biografive, miqësive, bindjeve politike dhe qëndrimeve për çështje që shpesh nuk kishin asnjë lidhje me kauzën e protestës.
Kjo prirje filloi të dëmtonte karakterin e hapur, horizontal dhe pluralist të protestës, të ushqentepërçarje dhe rivalitete personale, si dhe të largonte njerëz që mund të kontribuonin në kauzën e përbashkët.
Për më tepër, ajo krijoi një terren të favorshëm për ata që kërkonin ta dobësonin lëvizjen, sepseenergjia e pjesëmarrësve shpenzohej gjithnjë e më shumë në konflikte të brendshme, dyshime tëndërsjella dhe përpjekje për të kontrolluar organizimin.
Në këtë mënyrë, praktikat e diskreditimit që kishin nisur jashtë protestës rrezikonin tëriprodhoheshin nga vetë njerëzit që duhej të mbronin pavarësinë dhe besueshmërinë e saj.
Në thelb, të gjitha këto akuza, dyshime dhe teori konspirative burojnë nga e njëjta mendësipolitike: nga paaftësia për të pranuar se mund të ekzistojnë njerëz që mendojnë dhe veprojnë nëmënyrë të pavarur.
This is reminiscent of what philosopher Karl Popper described in his work "The Open Society and Its Enemies", where he contrasts the open society, based on individual freedom, pluralism and critical thinking, with the closed society, where the individual is expected to submit to the authority and norms of the group.
It is precisely the traces of this closed mindset that continue to survive in our political culture, even though we live in a formally pluralistic system.
For those accustomed to seeing society as a collection of clients, militants, and followers, the free citizen is an anomaly that requires explanation. They fail to conceive that someone can oppose Rama without being with Berisha, criticize Berisha without serving Rama, or defend a cause without receiving orders or funding from anyone.
Therefore, faced with any independent voice, their first reaction is to first try to find its owner and, when they can't find one, to invent one.
Those who consider politics as a struggle for control of people and organizations have difficulty accepting the coexistence of different beliefs and the free competition of ideas.
For them, independence is a claim that must be exposed, while citizen autonomy is a threat that must be neutralized. Thus, any initiative that falls outside their control becomes the object of suspicion, labeling, and attempts at appropriation.
However, a free society is built precisely on the right of individuals to think differently, to organize themselves, and to cooperate without being forced to submit to anyone's political or ideological authority.
Ultimately, this is the most important issue raised by the Flamingo Revolution, beyond the fate of Zvërnec and the concrete demands of the protest: Are we willing to accept that Albanian citizens can have their own voice, conscience, and will, without needing a master to guide them or a label to define them?
Because freedom does not begin when the government allows us to speak, nor when the opposition recognizes our right to protest.
It begins when no one anymore has the authority to decide on our behalf what we should think, who we should support, and who we should speak out against.
The real problem with those who always look for a conspiracy behind every protest is that they fail to believe in the existence of the free citizen with his or her own conscience and will.
Therefore, Albania will become a truly free society when the independence of the citizen is no longer seen as something dubious that requires explanation or justification, but as the natural foundation of democracy. /Exit.al
Po ndodh...
Berisha, Rama's "Trojan Horse" for Albanians who don't love him
Nga Indrit Gjyzeli
ide
receta Alfa
TRENDING 
shërbime
- POLICIA129
- POLICIA RRUGORE126
- URGJENCA112
- ZJARRFIKESJA128