Anger is spilling onto the streets of Tirana as thousands of Albanians rally against a proposed luxury resort tied to Jared Kushner, warning it could transform a fragile stretch of the Adriatic coastline into a sprawling tourism hub.
The €1.4bn project is being advanced by Affinity Partners, the investment firm led by Mr Kushner, on an island off Albania as well as along an undeveloped coastal area near the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape — a wetland known for flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites.
Environmental groups argue the development would scar several hundred hectares of pristine beaches and threaten a sensitive habitat.
People stage a protest against a planned tourism project by an organisation linked to Ivanka Trump’s husband Jared Kushner
Those behind the plans insist they can move forward while limiting harm.
“Our focus remains on responsible stewardship, environmental enhancement, job creation, and creating long-term value for local communities. We respect the ongoing public and institutional processes,” said Asher Abehsera, chairman of Sazan Real Estate Development LLC, which is working on the development alongside Mr Kushner’s firm.
Affinity Partners and Mr Kushner did not respond to requests for comment.
On Tuesday evening, demonstrators converged outside the office of Prime Minister Edi Rama, waving inflatable flamingoes and holding placards reading “Nation is not for sale” and “I don’t want Albania like Dubai”.
“We want all construction to halt and heavy machines out of the protected area,” said Joni Vorpsi, an ecologist with PPNEA-BirdLife Albania organisation.
“This would be a new city with around 10,000 rooms and it will completely destroy that wild region.”
Mr Rama publicly backed the development on Tuesday.
“It is very important that we remain welcoming, that we remain fair, and that under no circumstances do we receive the stigma of being a country where investors are met with hostility,” he said in a statement shared with Reuters.
“There is absolutely no chance that the investment will stop as long as I am here.”
Local residents and non-profit organisations began mobilising after developers erected large barbed wire fences at the planned site in Zvernec, near Vlora.
Several hundred people gathered on Saturday, and clashes broke out with private guards, leaving some injured, according to a Reuters witness.
Mr Kushner unveiled the Albania resort plan in 2024 as part of a broader investment push that also included a former army headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital. He abandoned the Serbia project last year after street protests against it.
