Albania rocked by mass protests over Kushner-linked $1.4bn resort in protected coastal zone
For roughly five days, thousands of Albanians have protested in Tirana under the slogan "Albania is not for sale," demanding a halt to a multi-billion-euro luxury resort on the ecologically sensitive Vjosa-Narta/Zvernec area being developed by Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners. The dispute escalated after May 30, when bulldozers, barbed-wire fencing and private security physically removed activists from the protected lagoon, sparking diaspora solidarity protests in New York and New Jersey. PM Edi Rama defended the project as a strategic investment worth over €1.4bn and 10,000+ jobs, vowing it will not be stopped while he is in office, even as protesters call for his resignation. The European Commission says it is monitoring developments closely, warning that EU environmental standards (Chapter 27, Birds and Habitats Directives) must be fully respected. Separately, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved Eric Wendt as Trump's nominee for ambassador to Tirana.
Why it matters
The clash crystallizes tensions between Albania's bid for EU accession—where environmental protection of Natura 2000-candidate sites is a binding criterion—and Rama's drive to attract foreign capital through controversial strategic-investment laws. The Kushner link adds a sensitive US political dimension; Affinity already abandoned a parallel Belgrade project after protests, raising questions about whether Albania follows suit.
🔎 Ground signal
Local anger is aimed less at the Trump family than at Rama's government and the project's opaque, consultation-free approvals; conservationists say negotiations could begin only if bulldozers and fences are removed and habitats restored, signaling the fight is about governance and transparency as much as ecology.