Sazan Island protests: Flotilla to join Albania's Flamingo Revolution

On August 20, three vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla will depart from Brindisi, Italy, heading toward Sazan Island in Albania. The mission is part of the ‘Flamingo Revolution,’ a movement protesting the transfer of protected coastal areas to luxury tourism developments.

The protest focuses on Sazan, a former military base in the Strait of Otranto that serves as Albania’s only pink flamingo nesting site and a stopover for over 200 migratory species. Following a January 2025 law passed by the Edi Rama government allowing construction in ecologically sensitive zones, the island is being sold to Affinity Partners—a fund owned by Jared Kushner—for a $1.4 billion resort project.

The initiative is organized by the Italo-Albanian collectives Mesdhe and Palestina e Lire. The organizers noted that the boats used in this mission are the same ones recovered after sustaining damage during a previous mission to the Gaza Strip.