"Albania is not for sale", shout the thousands who gathered on the streets of Tirana in recent days. The reason is the planned project for the construction of a luxury hotel complex on the island of Sazani. The project is by Donald Trump's son-in-law - Jared Kushner. "Ivanka, go home”, the posters also read. Kushner's wife is the eldest daughter of US President Donald Trump.
According to the protesters, Kushner's project for a resort village on the island of Sazani is problematic - for the environment and because of corrupt practices in granting construction permits, writes ARD. Albania's specialized prosecutor's office for combating corruption and organized crime has launched an investigation.
Is Albania doing Trump a favor?
Kushner's company - Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC - plans to invest 1.4 billion euros in Albania. Critics accuse Kushner and his wife of taking advantage of the fact that Ivanka's father is the president of the United States to advance their own business interests. Last year, Albanian authorities initially gave the green light to the project, declaring Jared Kushner a "strategic investor".
Albania has long wanted to boost its tourism industry, and the island of Sazani is currently uninhabited - it used to be a military base. However, this is no coincidence - the region around it has a protected status and is a sensitive coastal wetland that is inhabited by flamingos, seals and sea turtles. The specialized prosecutor's office is now investigating how that status was changed in 2024, when Kushner first expressed his desire to work on such a project in the area, and how ownership of the land was transferred so that construction could begin.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama continues to insist that there is no threat to biodiversity, Politico reports. Speaking to Albanian lawmakers on Monday, Rama denied that the project affected a protected nature reserve. He said the final proposal had not yet been submitted and the environmental assessment had not been completed. On Tuesday, the prime minister wrote in a social media post that the projects were an expression of the "ambition to create the most attractive destination on this side of the Mediterranean." He denies that Kushner received preferential treatment to curry favor with his father-in-law, Donald Trump.
Damage to the environment and democracy?
The company that manages the Albanian projects told the "New York Times" that among their priorities is "responsible management" of the environment. However, many Albanians do not agree with this assessment. The American newspaper quotes Taulant Bino, the chairman of the Albanian Ornithologists' Association, who is among the organizers of the protests against the project. According to him, one of the most serious problems is that a report on the impact of the construction on the environment has not been published so far, which is generally a requirement for such projects in such regions. If the investment project is implemented, it will include 6,000 hotel rooms and villas for accommodation.
The protests in the region began after Bino and other environmentalists noticed that construction work seemed to have started. According to the activist, there were traces of heavy equipment and bulldozers passing through the sand dunes in the region. Then barbed wire fences were erected, which increased tensions even more. According to Bino, it is not just about protecting nature, but also about transparency in the processes in the country in general. "The protests, of course, are centered around protected areas - but it is actually more about democracy in general," Bino told the "New York Times".