TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A luxury development project in Albania linked to Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is facing opposition from environmental advocates and has triggered daily protests in the capital, Tirana, dubbed the “flamingo revolution.â€
The rallies targeting longtime Socialist Prime Minister have drawn participation from across the country.
The government says the development on the Adriatic coast would be transformational for the former communist nation as it seeks to enter the high-end tourism market and pushes for European Union membership.
But the venture, spanning an abandoned island and a nearby stretch of seafront, has drawn opposition from environmental campaigners and critics of Rama's government.
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in recent weeks, blowing whistles and holding cardboard cut-outs of flamingos — one of the protected migratory bird species that could see their habitats threatened by the proposed resort.
The prime minister vows to pursue the project
Calls to halt the development project have been gradually replaced by overtly political demands centered on calls for Rama’s resignation and early elections.
Rama has vowed not to “step back†from the development and defended his administration's environmental record. He claims the protests are encouraged by malicious cyber activists overseas and accuses Iran of targeting his government.
“There is a lot of manipulation. There are a lot of half-truths that become bigger and bigger lies by the hour,†Rama told The Associated Press in an .
The allegations, which Rama has made for several years, followed a dispute with Albania after it sheltered members of an Iranian opposition group in 2022. Iran has denied the claims.
The protests against the project have gathered pace, with supporters in Albanian communities in neighboring Greece and other European countries also holding rallies.
EU officials say they are monitoring the development to ensure that it complies with the terms of Albania's bid to join the 27-nation bloc.
Kushner and Ivanka Trump discovered the site on vacation
The luxury project has two components: a coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area, which is a wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort on the nearby uninhabited island of Sazan, a communist-era military base.
The planned development of hotels, apartments, villas and a marina is linked to Kushner and Trump’s daughter, . An investment firm linked to Kushner has been granted special investor status by Albanian authorities.
In an interview with U.S. podcaster David Senra, Ivanka Trump said they discovered the site by accident.
“We were on a friend’s boat, and we stopped for a swim. Effectively, that’s how we found it,†she said. “We swam to the island. We went on a hike, barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated.â€
Decades of communist rule left beaches untouched
Albania has 450 kilometers (280 miles) of coast that remained largely underdeveloped during decades of harsh communist rule.
The development is planned within a nature reserve and one of Albania’s most valuable biodiversity areas, a key stopover for migratory birds along the Adriatic coast.
Protest groups fear sections of that pristine coastline could be snapped up by powerful investors. Public anger grew after a video showed an activist being dragged away by a private security guard while demonstrating at the site.
Since late May, excavators and other heavy machinery have entered the biodiversity area, opening access routes, digging into the sand, clearing land among pine trees and installing fencing.
Environmental groups from Albania and elsewhere in Europe condemned the work, with one prominent local group charging that long-protected habitats are being “irreversibly destroyed.â€
Questions of ownership complicate the venture
Albania’s Special Prosecution Office Against Corruption and Organized Crime has confirmed it opened an investigation related to the project but has disclosed few details.
The government says the land earmarked for the project is privately owned. But competing claims have emerged questioning the privatization.
Rama has said the venture would align with Albania’s ambition to become a major global tourism destination.
“Albania should not be a country that fears an extraordinary project like this one, where exceptional partners have come together to invest 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion),†Rama said.
He added: “There is no chance for this investment to stop as long as I am here.â€
Serbia offers a possible lesson
However, the demise of a similar project in Serbia offers a cautionary tale. In November, Serbia's Parliament to enable the building of a luxury complex in the capital, Belgrade, to be financed by an investment company linked to .
The following month, Serbia's prosecutor for organized crime , including a government minister, with abuse of office and falsifying of documents to help pave the way for the development.
Kushner later withdrew from the that would have replaced a sprawling bombed-out military complex, a designated heritage zone whose legal protection was lifted by the former officials now on trial.
