Kushner-backed Albania resort sparks protests, EU concerns
Donald Trump's son-in-law is linked to a megaproject on Albania's protected coast that has triggered protests and EU scrutiny over risks to flamingos and endangered
Donald Trump's son-in-law is linked to a megaproject on Albania's protected coast that has triggered protests and EU scrutiny over risks to flamingos and endangered habitats. Bulldozers, barbed-wire fences and security guards dragging protesters across the sand are not the images Albania hoped would dominate headlines just days after it received positive signals from Brussels over progress in its EU accession talks. Yet that is precisely what happened in the Narta Lagoon area, a protected landscape on the country's southern coast. At the center of the dispute is the proposed Zvernec Peninsula development, a tourism project linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. What started as a fight over construction in a protected area has grown into a wider debate about development, environmental protection and Albania's future in Europe. Just 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the city of Vlora, developers are planning what could become one of the largest tourism projects in Albania's history. The company behind it says it could exceed €4 billion ($4.6 billion) and create more than 10,000 jobs. Prime Minister Edi Rama has described it as a strategic investment that could help move Albania into the top tier of global tourism. Why is the Kushner-linked resort facing protests? Pishe Poro–Narta is one of Albania's most important protected coastal landscapes. Its lagoons, wetlands, pine forests and sand dunes provide habitat for hundreds of species and serve as an important stopover point for migratory birds traveling between Europe and Africa, including protected pink flamingos. Protesters shouted anti-government slogans during a demonstration in Tirana on Tuesday Image: Armando Babani/Matrix Images/picture alliance On the morning of May 30, activists walked through pine forests and sand dunes to reach the construction site.
Waiting for them were construction equipment, newly erected fences and private security guards. Videos shared on social media showed demonstrators being forcibly removed from the area, sparking public outrage. In the days that followed, thousands of people joined solidarity protests in Tirana under the slogan "Albania is not for sale," calling for the project to be halted. Environmental organizations have also called for full disclosure of documents related to the project, arguing that key decisions have not been made transparent to the public. For more than a decade, Besjana Shehu, the conservationist and co-founder of the Albanian Ornithological Society, has worked to protect the wetlands, forests and lagoons of Pishe Poro–Narta. But she said the scenes that unfolded on May 30 marked a turning point in a much longer battle over the area's future. "This is not simply a local dispute over a fence, a road or a construction site, but also about how decisions like this are being taken, and the lack of transparency surrounding them," she told DW. "What is at stake is the ecological integrity of more than 18,000 hectares of one of Albania's most important natural corridors." Rama: 'We must enter the Champions League of global tourism' For more than an hour on Monday, Rama devoted much of a public address to the controversy surrounding the Zvernec Peninsula project. The prime minister condemned the private security guards who were filmed dragging a protester across the sand, calling their behavior "disgusting." But his remarks left little doubt that he had no intention of stepping back from the project. "What do I need power for if I have to abandon the vision I have shared with you all these years?" Rama asked.
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