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Protesters clash with Albanian police in demonstrations triggered by Kushner resort plan
Police used water cannons and tear gas as protesters said the resort threatens protected wetlands and wildlife, with demonstrations stretching for seven weeks.
Riot police in Tirana deployed water cannons and tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who threw eggs, bottles, and rattled security fences outside the parliament building.
The violent clashes marked a sharp escalation in the nearly two-month-old "Flamingo Revolution"—a grassroots protest movement named after the birds that inhabit the protected Adriatic Sea coastal wetlands targeted for development.
The public unrest centers on a multi-billion-dollar luxury hotel and resort project proposed by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, which critics say threatens local ecosystems and capitalizes on state-backed corruption.
Activists chanting "Albania is not for sale" have focused their outrage on Prime Minister Edi Rama's administration, accusing the government of altering environmental laws and pushing out local communities to favor elite foreign investors.
The developers have confirmed Kushner's status as a primary investor but have withheld specifics regarding his exact role or capital contribution, while Prime Minister Rama has dismissed the ongoing protests as an artificial political stunt manufactured by his opposition.
A luxury resort built by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner should have made Albania Europe's new vacation paradise. Instead, it has sent a nation into the streets.