The Neomalsorja criticizes Rama in the “Financial Times”: My generation’s struggle is not to look for a place to live, but…

In a social media post, the now independent MP Marjana Koçeku shared an interview of hers in the “Financial Times”.

The “Neomalsorja”, speaking about the protests, said that parents have raised their children with the idea that happiness lies beyond borders, while the protests showed that Albanians are beginning to see their own land as a place worth living in.

In her post, she writes that she expressed what she has felt for a long time—that her generation’s struggle is not to seek another country to live in, but to transform the country they live in into a livable one—indirectly accusing the “Rama” government of making the country difficult to live in.

“In this article in the Financial Times, I expressed what I have felt for a long time and what I have also experienced personally: our generation’s struggle is not to look for another better place to live, but to turn the place we belong to into a more livable one,” she stated.

Excerpt from the article dedicated to Marjana Koçeku:

“After the outbreak of protests in Tirana, work appears to have stopped. Last week there were no visible trucks, materials, or construction workers in the country, and the new fence had been removed.”

The European Parliament, which has a say in Albania’s accession request, in mid-June called for a moratorium on all construction works and new building permits in the country’s protected areas, and demanded that the so-called “five-star amendment” be repealed.

For Marjana Koçeku, a 25-year-old lawmaker in Tirana, the protests show a shift in how young Albanians view their country.

Albania experienced mass emigration after the end of communist rule in 1991, but this flow is beginning to slow. Many members of the diaspora also returned to Tirana for the demonstrations, Koçeku said.

“Our parents raised us with the idea that happiness lies beyond borders, but the protests are showing that Albanians are seeing their land as a place to live, rather than a place to leave.”

Koçeku’s life reflects this change. Raised in an isolated mountain village in northern Albania, accessible only by boat, she left for Italy to study. However, she returned to Albania to develop a sustainable tourism project in her family home before entering politics.

Last month, she left Rama’s ruling party over the Zvërnec coastal development project, becoming the only independent MP in Albania’s parliament. Since then, she has received threats, the article states.

For more than a month, Albania has been shaken by large anti-government protests that began after violence was used against a citizen in Zvërnec, Vlorë, following protests in the area against construction projects.

The unrest was followed by large demonstrations, which have continued daily since the end of May in front of the Prime Minister’s Office.

In addition to the protests, several figures from within the Socialist Party have joined the protesters, one of them being MP Marjana Koçeku, known to the public as “Neomalsorja.”

“KORÇA BOOM”