The European Parliament Speaks: Stop Construction in Protected Areas — or Lose Accession Progress

On June 17, 2026, the European Parliament adopted its annual resolution on Albania — and for the first time, the Vjosa-Narta construction crisis, the Kushner resort project, and the protests of the Flamingo Revolution were placed at the centre of the EU's formal position on whether Albania is making progress toward membership.

WHAT THE RESOLUTION SAYS

The European Parliament resolution called for an "immediate moratorium on new permitting procedures, construction works and development interventions within protected areas" in Albania. It specifically referenced the situation in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape — where bulldozers had been working inside a legally protected wetland for weeks — and stated that the construction activities raised serious concerns about Albania's compliance with EU environmental standards. The Parliament also called for the repeal of Albania's 2024 amendments to the Law on Protected Areas — legislation that weakened environmental protections and which critics say was designed to enable the Kushner project.

WHY THIS MATTERS FOR EU ACCESSION

Albania is a formal EU accession candidate. It has opened all 33 negotiating chapters of the EU accession process. But it has not been able to close any of them. The chapter most directly relevant here is Chapter 27 — Environment and Climate Change. To close this chapter and advance toward EU membership, Albania must demonstrate that it aligns its environmental laws with EU standards, that it enforces those standards, and that it protects the natural sites that European law requires to be protected. The Vjosa-Narta wetland, home to Mediterranean flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans among many other species, is precisely the type of habitat that EU nature directives — especially the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive — are designed to protect. If Albania allows it to be destroyed for a luxury resort, that is not just a domestic scandal. It is an EU accession compliance failure.

BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL IN STRASBOURG

The Flamingo Revolution reached the European Parliament not only through formal diplomatic channels but also through BirdLife International, the global conservation partnership that monitors bird habitats worldwide. BirdLife published a statement on June 4 calling the situation in Vjosa-Narta a case of a government "selling off a wetland" and "selling off democracy." BirdLife's European partners brought the case directly to MEPs in Strasbourg, briefing them on the ecological significance of the site and the fact that construction had begun without the environmental documents that both Albanian and EU law require.

EUROPEAN POLITICIANS SPEAK OUT

Following the Parliament's resolution, politicians across Europe — from multiple parties and multiple countries — spoke publicly about the Albanian situation. EuroNatur, a major European conservation organisation, published a statement saying that "environmental standards are becoming a key issue in the accession process" for Albania. EU lawmakers from the Environment Committee were among the most vocal, calling explicitly for the Kushner-linked project to be halted and for the 2024 law changes to be reversed.

WHAT COMES NEXT IN THE ACCESSION PROCESS

The European Parliament resolution is a political signal, not a legal order. Albania remains in the accession process. But the signal is clear: continuing to build in protected areas without permits, without environmental impact assessments, and without public consultation is incompatible with EU membership. The next steps in Albania's accession process will require the government to demonstrate progress on exactly the Chapter 27 environmental issues that the Flamingo Revolution has put on the international agenda. If the government continues construction and refuses to repeal the law changes, it faces the prospect of the EU accession process stalling — at a moment when that process is one of the most important political commitments the government has made to Albanian citizens.