An environmental group opposing the construction of a luxury resort in Albania linked to Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has told Newsweek the project has already caused “significant” ecological harm, as protests pile pressure on the government in Tirana.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Albania’s capital over the last week to protest the $1.6 billion development along the country’s southern Adriatic coast, which includes parts of the Vjosa-Narta lagoon and the nearby island of Sazan.
Kushner’s Affinity Partners would be an investor in the project, sparking anger given that the location is home to endangered bird species, including the pink flamingo, which is the emblem of the protests.
The Albanian Foreign Ministry told Newsweek that no final project had been approved and no final project was under construction. Aleksandr Trajce, executive director of the country’s leading conservation group, the Protection and Preservation of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), said machinery at the site had been removed due to the protests.
“That said, the damage already inflicted remains quite prominent,” Trajce told Newsweek.
Newsweek reached out to Affinity Partners for comment.
Protests Erupt
The resort development is the idea of Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, who were inspired by a visit to the country, which is becoming an ever more popular tourist destination due to its spectacular landscapes and relatively low costs.
But protests started at the end of May, with the PPNEA saying that the site near Vjosa-Narta was closed off with barbed-wire fencing amid work on an access road and other pre-construction developments.
Demonstrations in Tirana saw protesters carrying inflatable flamingoes, in a nod to the bird they say is endangered by the project. Slogans of “Albania is not for sale” and “Ivanka! Ivanka! Keep your hands away from Narta,” expressed anger at plans which could see the transformation of parts of Albania’s southern coastline into a high-end tourism destination.
Kushner’s business partner, Asher Abehsera, insisted the project would enhance the area’s ecology, create jobs and be managed under “responsible stewardship,” the BBC reported.
But Albania’s Special Prosecution Office Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) has opened an investigation into decisions from 2024 that altered the legal status of land along the southern coast ahead of its being approved last December by Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Trajce from PPNEA said the project, which would reportedly see 10,000 hotel rooms built, would also transform a stretch of land that separates the lagoon from the sea into a fully urbanized area.
“Given that construction will take years, it would wreak lasting havoc on the entire ecology, from the lagoon to the adjacent sea and beach ecosystems,” Trajce said.
“New roads have been cut through the landscape, with gravel laid even on fragile dunes, and a bridge has been built over the main canal connecting the lagoon to the sea,” he said. “This construction, in a short time, has already caused significant harm to both the ecology and the geomorphology of the area,” he said, “so, while it appears the project is stopped for now, the effects of what was done remain very visible.”
There were reports that the pressure from the protests had paused the project. However, Albanian Foreign Affairs spokesman Alteo Hysi told Newsweek there was “currently no final project approved and no final project under construction.”
“What exists today is an ongoing planning and design process that has been underway for more than two years,” Hysi said, noting that there has been discussion among investors, planners, environmental experts, and Albanian institutions.
Hysi said the Albanian government has imposed “exceptionally strict requirements and conditions” and that an environmental impact assessment would ensure “compliance with the highest environmental standards before any final decision is taken.”
He added that legislative changes adopted in 2024 did not remove the protected status of the Vjosa–Narta area and that “environmental obligations remain in force and will continue to guide every stage of the process.”
“The vision is not simply to build another tourism project,” he said, “the ambition is to create a new benchmark for sustainable Mediterranean development.”
Despite the Foreign Ministry’s statement that a final decision had not been taken, Rama has insisted that the project would go ahead, telling Reuters on Monday, “it’s going to be a beautiful project and we’re going to do it.”
Rama has said that the development could see $4.6 billion invested in the country.
Kushner’s Second Project in Firing Line
This is not the first time a Kushner project in the Balkans has faced opposition.
His plan to build a Trump International Hotel in Belgrade also faced fierce protests after Affinity signed a 99-year land deal with the Serbian government to redevelop the site following the site’s “cultural asset” status being revoked.
Serbia’s parliament voted for the contentious project at the site of the former Yugoslav army headquarters, which has faced pushback from locals, given its status as an architectural landmark. The arrest of a government minister for abuse of office in connection with the project prompted Kushner to withdraw from the $500 million project at the end of last year.
Trajce said that protests in Albania over the last week have escalated as “a wider symbol of the failure to uphold the rule of law in the country, and the privileging of the interests of wealthy elites over the rights of citizens.”
Leave a Reply