Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama railed against the “Flamingo Revolution” on Sunday, comparing the protest movement to Nazi Germany and referring to the protesters as “hajvan” — a derogatory Albanian term roughly meaning “stupid as idiots” or “uncivilized people.”
“This is fascist, it is scandalous, and it must be stopped,” Rama said during his podcast on Sunday. “And it is stopped by not backing down in the face of these kinds of pressures and these kinds of ‘hajvans’,” he added.
“This must be stopped,” Rama emphasized.
The remarks come as the political unrest entered its 14th consecutive day as Albanians flooded Tirana over the weekend in the largest demonstration yet, calling for the prime minister’s resignation.
Saturday’s protest saw an estimated 100,000-200,000 people take to the streets. They have remained peaceful, attended by children, the elderly and families, and even including an area for children to draw and paint.
Now in its second straight week, the protest has transformed from demands for the cancellation of a Jared Kushner-linked luxury resort into one of the largest anti-government demonstrations that Albania has seen since the fall of communism in 1991.
Rama called the protests a “fascist spirit” that paints a message of Albania belonging to Albanians, “meaning that everyone else outside that is not welcome — just as Germany was ‘for the Germans’ and then became Europe’s ‘black sheep’ for years and years afterward,” he added.
Demonstrations in support of the “Flamingo Revolution” were set to continue both worldwide and in Tirana on Sunday, with rallies planned from New York and Berlin to Vienna and London.