They dream of Europe, but there is still a long way to go. In Albania, 92 per cent of the population are in favour of joining the European Union. In Serbia, however, whilst the political class is pushing for EU membership, only 40 per cent of the population support it. The comments made by the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, on 3 February 2025, point to progress: “For the first time in ten years, there is a realistic prospect of bringing one or more countries to the finish line of the negotiations by the end of this term of office”, that is, by 2030.
Although Albania and Serbia submitted their applications nearly 17 years ago, many obstacles remain. Domestic politics in both countries continue to be deeply shaken by scandals and corruption. Their capitals, Tirana and Belgrade, are regularly paralysed by protests.
Serbia has been the scene of a protest movement for nearly two years. It began in Novi Sad, the country’s second-largest city, following the collapse of the railway station canopy, which killed 14 people, including a six-year-old child. Serbian civil society is particularly outraged, blaming corruption for this tragedy. Mass demonstrations took place in Novi Sad, then in Belgrade, before spreading across the whole country. For over a year and a half, the protests were organised mainly by students, rather than political parties, who demanded justice for the victims of Novi Sad, protested against corruption and called for the resignation of President Aleksandar Vučić. The symbol of the movement is a bloodstained hand, which for the protesters symbolises the government’s responsibility.
After many months of silence, and when the country least expected it, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced his resignation on 27 June. He did not specify the date of his departure – “within a few weeks”, he said – whilst hinting at early elections and the possibility of returning as Prime Minister. For students and the opposition, this announcement is nothing more than a political ploy designed to retain power, even though his term as head of state was due to expire in March 2027. Radomir Lazovic, co-chair of the Green-Left Front (ZLF), stated on the Serbian news channel N1 on 6 July that “all this is merely a diversionary tactic and an attempt to give the impression that they are actually taking action”.
In Albania, the Trump family is at the centre of a controversy that is gaining momentum. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and an American investor, has shown an interest in this small south-eastern European country, where he is developing a luxury tourism project backed by the Albanian government. The project is located in the village of Zvërnec, near the Narta Lagoon, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, on the country’s south-western coast. This lagoon forms part of a protected area within the Vjosa Wild River National Park, home to numerous protected bird species, including around 3,000 flamingos for whom it serves as a stopover on their migratory route.
The protest has become known as the “Flamingo Revolution”. On 23 May, local residents demonstrated against this tourism project, but also against a process they regard as opaque and corrupt. They have denounced encroachments on protected areas, disputed property rights, unpublished or contentious planning permission applications, and so on. The movement then spread to Tirana, the capital, and subsequently to the rest of the country. For over a month now, anger has also been spreading amongst the large Albanian diaspora, particularly in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and France.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is the direct target of these protests. He is accused of corruption, poor governance and of exerting influence over the media through oligarchs with close ties to the government. The demonstrators are calling for his resignation. But the protesters are, after all, targeting the entire Albanian political system. They are also criticising the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Albania. It is as if the socialist Edi Rama and the democrat Sali Berisha ultimately belong to the same political system, inherited from the fall of communism in the 1990s.
In both Albania and Serbia, the current regimes seem to be a thing of the past. Edi Rama, who has been in power in Albania for 13 years, has a controversial political legacy. The Socialist Party of Albania (PSSh), founded in 1991, is the direct successor to the single Communist Party of dictator Enver Hoxha. In Serbia, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), founded in 2008, emerged from a split within the Serbian Radical Party, a far-right ultra-nationalist movement that supported the ‘Greater Serbia’ project under Slobodan Milošević. These parties remain shaped by the political legacy of the late 1990s and the post-communist era. Generation Z no longer identifies with them and is seeking something else through the protests in Novi Sad and the fight for the flamingos in Vlora.
Serbian students and Albanian environmentalists represent a form of opposition distinct from traditional political parties. In Serbia, students are not yet directly involved in political life; for example, they have not yet responded to Vucic’s decision to call early parliamentary and presidential elections. In Albania, the protests are still too recent to have had any impact on the electoral landscape. However, the formation of new parties could be the logical next step.
Neighbouring Montenegro provides an interesting precedent. The ‘Europe Now!’ (PES) movement – a centrist, pro-European, liberal and anti-corruption party – was founded in 2022. Very quickly, its two founders won the main elections: Jakov Milatovic became President of the Republic and Milojko Spajic won the parliamentary elections before being appointed Prime Minister. The traditional parties, a legacy of communist Yugoslavia and regularly accused of corruption, were swept aside. Since then, Montenegro has significantly accelerated its process of accession to the European Union.
Will Serbia and Albania follow in Montenegro’s footsteps? If Serbia and Albania wish to remain in the running for European Union membership, they will need to resolve these political crises swiftly and tackle corruption. Albanian environmentalists, for example, can count on the support of a large diaspora based in Western Europe. This diaspora supports the ‘flamingo revolution’ and has lived for several generations within the European Union, where it has now come to understand the ways of the EU. It is clear that a significant proportion of this diaspora no longer wants an Albania riddled with corruption. However, for the time being, the deadlocks within Balkan societies are pushing Serbia and Albania a little further away from the European project.
An article written by Bruno Cadène (franceinfo), initially published on 12 July 2026, 14:47 (CEST)