Albania presses ahead with Kushner-linked resort amid protests

Albania’s prime minister is moving ahead with a luxury resort backed by Jared Kushner’s company, even as thousands of demonstrators gather over fears the project will scar one of the country’s most sensitive coastal zones. The dispute has become a test of whether foreign capital and political influence are outweighing environmental protections and local trust.

The planned development would sit on Sazan Island and across the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape near Vlora on Albania’s Adriatic coast, a remote stretch of shoreline that activists say is home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites. Protesters have turned the flamingo into their symbol, waving inflatable pink birds and rallying under the slogan “Albania is not for sale.” Some descriptions of the project have put its scale at as many as 10,000 hotel rooms.

Edi Rama has said the resort will go forward. He argued that the developers would eventually win critics over with the scale and quality of what they build, and said parts of the resort could open to the public before the end of the decade. Rama also cast the project as a source of national pride, framing Albania’s role in it as a contribution to Europe’s tourism map.

The political stakes are high because the project is tied to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, through Affinity Partners. Kushner unveiled the plans in 2024, and by early 2026 he had visited the area with Ivanka Trump. That connection has given the fight a sharper edge, turning a development dispute into a broader argument over who gets to shape Albania’s coastline and on what terms.

The pushback has already reached the courts and prosecutors. Albania’s anti-corruption office, SPAK, said on June 1, 2026, that it had opened an investigation into changes in protected status and land ownership in the area that opened the door to tourism development. Environmental organizations have called for the project to be suspended, warning that biodiversity could be lost if construction advances inside a fragile wetland system.

For Rama, the resort fits a wider modernization and tourism strategy that promises jobs, prestige and revenue. For opponents, it is a warning that powerful investors can override conservation rules and public confidence, especially in a country where the shoreline is increasingly under pressure from development. The protests outside Rama’s office suggest the fight is far from over.