Albania, on southeastern Europe’s Balkan Peninsula, is a small country with Adriatic and Ionian coastlines, and an interior crossed by the Albanian Alps. The country has many castles and archaeological sites. The capital of Tirana centers on sprawling Skanderbeg Square. During World War II, Albanian elements collaborated with Nazi forces, and the era was marked and documented by brutality and atrocities, including massacres of civilian populations, until the Axis collapsed.
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While Islam is the largest religious affiliation in the country, Albania now has no state religion, and its society is widely known for being tolerant and highly secular.
All this is prelude to a loud and aggressive anti-Trump demonstration which took place at the Albanian consulate on my block yesterday with signs and shouts proclaiming “Albania is Not For Sale!” The protest centered on a putative plan to build a large hotel, backed by Jared Kushner, on the beautiful Adriatic Coast.
The unemployment rate in Albania stood at 10.93 percent in 2025. Between 1991 and 2025, the unemployment rate rose by 0.63 percentage points. I thought why not build the hotel? It would provide a major benefit to women, who experience higher levels of unemployment, and bring quite an economic boon to the area.
The protests were not friendly, and I returned to my computer with my interest piqued—I then learned some very pleasant news: Prime Minister Edi Rama was recently elected to a record fourth term. Rama, who has been in office since September 2013, declared about the demonstration: “If it wasn’t Jared, they wouldn’t give a shit.” Well said! I felt vindicated, but there is more.
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Edi Rama has maintained a strong, supportive relationship with Israel, cemented by an official diplomatic visit to Jerusalem.
Key elements of Albania-Israel relations under Rama’s leadership include:
An emotional, historic address to the Israeli Knesset. He spoke about the Albanian concept of Besa—an honor code that led Albanians to protect Jewish refugees during the Holocaust—and declared that antisemitism is an assault on humanity. Per a Jerusalem Post report on that specific address, Rama acknowledged that antisemitism is “not merely hatred against Jews but an assault on the moral architecture of humanity itself,” and noted this: “History shows that it starts with the Jews, but it doesn’t end with the Jews.”
In view of exploding world antisemitism this is very welcome.
Rama views Israel as a crucial strategic partner for the Balkans in terms of economic development, innovation, security cooperation, and fighting antisemitism.
Okay, so call me “Johnny One Note,” but I feel devastated by the outsized hatred of Israel and mounting antisemitism throughout the world, even in the Anglosphere, once the coziest corners of the Diaspora.
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Albania is a welcome port in a rising storm.
Image generated by ChatGPT.