Mass protests, riots, legal disputes and accusations of forged documents - Kushner's project in Albania is facing a number of problems that have already reached Edi Rama's government.
The Flamingo Revolution - that's how the protests in Albania against the planned large-scale construction project by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, on protected land in the country became known.
The flamingo has become a symbol of the protests because the territory where Kushner and his investment partners want to build a hotel complex with more than 10,000 beds is home to a population of about 7,000 flamingos.
The protests have been going on for over a month and have been peaceful so far. This week, however, the discontent in the capital Tirana escalated. During the last session of parliament before the summer break, protesters surrounded the Albanian National Assembly building and pelted cars of deputies and police with eggs. Law enforcement responded with tear gas and water cannons.
Protests against the government, but also against the opposition
These protests are no longer just about the controversial construction project, Olsi Nika from the environmental organization "Eco Albania" told ARD. The man says that he has been part of the protest wave from its very beginning. According to him, there are often protests in the country for environmental protection, but they are usually at the local level. At the same time, in the capital Tirana, supporters of opposition leader Sali Berisha often protest against the government of Edi Rama. But the current demonstrators are distancing themselves from him as well.
The flamingo revolution is different, Nika explains. "Now the whole people are protesting against the government and against the largest opposition party." According to him, the big problem is that the two largest parties in Albania - Rama's and Berisha's - are corrupt and clientelistic.
Now people are angry that the Narta region, where Kushner wants to build a huge hotel, is being taken over. "Corrupt courts gave the land to oligarchs and businessmen connected to organized crime," Olsi Nika told ARD. The government refuses to take a step back and sweeps the recommendations of environmentalists under the carpet when it comes to construction projects. The authorities in Tirana are also ignoring European Union standards.
Tourism at the expense of environmental protection
Jared Kushner's project on the Albanian coast was kept secret for a long time, until Donald Trump's son-in-law himself published his plans on social networks. In order for him to build his huge holiday village with its own port in the Vjosa-Narta Natural Park, the parts of it that will become part of the complex must be removed from the park's territory. In 2024, the Albanian parliament passed a law according to which strategically important tourism investments can also be made in protected areas, ARD recalls.
The European Commission criticized the controversial project. When Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was asked whether he would let the project be implemented during a visit to Brussels in mid-July, he tried to downplay the criticism. According to him, the European Commission is a partner of Albania and is aware of all the facts on the subject. Rama is trying to stay on good terms with Brussels and claims that the protesters are exaggerating the problem and spreading lies.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos also attended Edi Rama's press conference and stressed that Albania must adhere to the European Union's standards for environmental protection. They are among the leading conditions for joining the EU, and in order to meet these criteria, Albania must change some laws, Kos added.
The European Commissioner noted that the laws on strategic investments in the territory of natural parks need to be changed - it is this law that allows Jared Kushner to build in the Vjosa-Narta region. Edi Rama publicly agreed that the law should be repealed. However, he insisted that Kushner's project is still in the planning phase and will comply with European legislation. According to the Albanian Prime Minister, the project will "make Albania and Europe proud".
Is the project in danger of failure?
The construction on the territory of the natural park is not the only problem facing Kushner's plans. The land on which part of the project is planned is the subject of dispute. Sazani Island is state property. However, the coastal land on Zvernets Island is privately owned. Companies associated with Kushner and Trump bought it from Miami businessman Arthur Shehu, who claims that his family's claims to the land date back to the time of the Ottoman Empire, writes the American magazine "Atlantic”. Local residents in Zvernets claim that they are the rightful owners. The situation is complicated because the land was nationalized during the communist regime and returned to private hands in the 1990s, which leads to controversy.
This summer, Albania's anti-corruption agency announced that it was investigating whether Shehu had falsified notarial deeds. This institution was created under pressure from the EU and prosecutors there have repeatedly confronted the Albanian government, ARD recalls. Artur Shehu is accused of drug trafficking and is wanted. And Kushner's project is seriously threatened.