Reports that Syria's chemical weapons stash would be destroyed in Albania have angered Albanians, who took to the streets to protest the proposal. Following the protests, the Albanian government refused to host the dismantling of 1,300 metric tons of Syria's sarin, mustard and other agents.

Online, Albanian netizens made their views heard.

In an Open Letter to President Obama, Albania Reloaded wrote:

I am a deeply concerned citizen of Albania, who like millions of Albanians is shocked by the news that deadly toxic chemical arsenal of Assad’s regime is landing to Albanian shores. For a small country of 28,000 km2, over-populated, with poor infrastructure, with countless problems in every sector of the economy, health, education, environment, agriculture, tourism, struggling for over two decades to fight corruption and organized crime plagued in every cell of our society, the decision of demolition chemical weapons in Albania is TOXIC. The lethal impact that this potential decision will have in the lives of Albanians and the generations to come is unquestionable.

Robert Kyriakides explained the case in his blog Not In My Backyard – Destroying Syria’s Chemical Weapons in Albania: