Thousands Rally in Albania in Largest Protest yet Against Kushner Resort
Protesters say the 5 billion euro plan threatens protected wetlands and gives foreign investors too much control over Albanian land.
- Thousands protested in Tirana on Wednesday against a luxury resort development backed by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of United States President Donald Trump, with the crowd stretching half a mile down a main boulevard.
- The project, expected to cost about $5.8 billion, is planned near the ecologically sensitive Zvernec wetlands that serve as a protected habitat for flamingos, seals, and sea turtle nesting sites, sparking local outrage.
- Calling the movement the 'Flamingo Revolution,' protesters chanted 'Albania is not for sale' outside Prime Minister Edi Rama's office. Protester Leand Lakrori told Reuters, 'This is the apotheosis of what has been happening in Albania for the last 35 years.'
- Despite warnings from the European Commission that the project could threaten Albania's European Union accession path, Prime Minister Edi Rama insisted the development will proceed. Officials cautioned that environmental law alignment remains a condition for entry.
- Previously, Kushner's firm, Affinity Partners, abandoned a similar hotel project in Serbia last December following protests. Critics argue the plan mirrors a broader pattern of foreign influence concerns that have persisted for decades.
32 Articles
32 Articles
According to the demonstrators, gathered daily in Tirana for more than a week, the luxury hotel complex in Zvernec represents a risk to the environment. They demand its arrest, as well as the resignation of Prime Minister Edi RamaThe rumble does not weaken in Albania. Thousands of demonstrators again marched on Thursday in the streets of Tirana, the capital, during a new protest against a hotel complex project linked to the Trump family. For mor…
A look at the Albanian island where a Kushner-Trump resort plan has sparked protests
Albania's Sazan Island is a jewel in the Adriatic Sea. The former Cold War-era base is now in a luscious nature preserve and an inviting prospect for real estate developers. Chief among them is Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. Their plans are running headlong into Albanians who want to keep what's theirs. Special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky and producer Katia Patin report.
The project to build a luxury tourist complex in Zvernec, together with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, has caused an unprecedented wave of protest in Tirana For more than a week, the
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