Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
Ivanka Trump
At issue is a controversial project by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner for a luxury resort on a paradise island in Albania, which has sparked nationwide protests and calls for the prime minister to resign.
Protesters have been demonstrating for days in the streets of Tirana, the capital of Albania, attracting thousands of people to the streets to demand the cancellation of a tourist enterprise luxury hotel allegedly linked to Ivanka Trump — daughter of American President Donald Trump — and her husband Jared Kushner.
There are Albanian flags and anti-corruption slogans, but also lots of images of Trump’s daughter and bright pink flamingos, as part of a campaign calling on her and her husband, Kushner, to “come back home“.
Clashes between police and protesters in the region have been frequent, with people shouting “Cancel the project” and holding banners reading “Albania is not for sale“.
The 1.4 billion euro resort is designed to occupy an island and is close to an area that is home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nests.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama supports the 4 billion euro plan which he says will would bring jobs and infrastructure for the region.
The island that caught Ivanka Trump’s attention
The 5.7 square kilometer uninhabited island of Sazan is situated in the Adriatic Sea, off the coast of Vlora, a city in southwestern Albania.
The island served as strategic military base during World War IIlater becoming part of the Soviet-aligned defense network in the 1950s, and remaining a highly fortified post even after Albania’s break with the USSR.
As a result, in addition to thousands of bunkers and underground tunnels on the island, large quantities of unexploded ordnance remain scattered on the seabed and along its rocky coastline.
In an interview with a podcast in the US, Ivanka Trump said that she and her husband found the island by chance.
“We were on a friend’s boat and stopped to swim,” he told David Senra’s podcast.
“We identify the opportunity to help realize your potential and transform it, but with great moderation and care, because the place is very beautiful.”
This provoked comments on the video such as “Albania is not for sale!” or “Take your hands off“, alongside Albanian flag emojis.
Why are residents opposed to the development?
In January, 40 environmental organizations asked suspension of plans for the resortciting threats of irreversible damage to local biodiversity.
“We want construction to stop and for heavy machinery leaves the protected area“, Joni Vorpsi, an ecologist with the organization PPNEA-Birdlife Albania, told Reuters.
“It will completely destroy this wilderness.”
The initial protests began at the end of May this year, after the barbed wire installation which blocks access to Zvernec beach, a stretch of coast in front of the island of Sazan that is close to a protected area.
The construction of luxury hotels and villas in this area, as well as on the island of Sazan, was part of plans announced by Trump’s son-in-law in 2024.
Videos of the protests show security guards dragging people outside the premises, as well as people suffering injuries allegedly related to pepper spray.
This led authorities to revoke the licenses of two private security companies and suspend several police officers.
But not everyone is skeptical about the venture, like local resident Brian Negatorre, who works in tourism.
“Everyone will get to know Albania in the coming years. It’s something we all dream about.”
Negatorre met Ivanka when she visited the Vlora region in January, accompanied by architects and investors, and hosted both her and Prime Minister Rama at her family’s seaside resort.
Who is behind the project?
At the end of 2024, the government granted “strategic investor” status to Atlantic Incubation Partners, a company linked to Kushner.
This status grants access to accelerated administrative procedures and support from ministries, according to a document seen by the AFP agency.
Questioned by the BBC, Kushner’s partner, Asher Abehsera, said the project focuses on “responsible management” and improving the environment, as well as creating jobs and value for local communities.
Prime Minister Edi Rama defended the project and said that there is “no possibility” of the enterprise being interrupted while he is in power.
Rama said he was open to dialogue with “anyone who has concerns” and invited protesters to choose a delegation of around 20 people to discuss possible solutions.
The proposal was rejected by protest organizers, who are now calling for Prime Minister’s resignation.
Albania’s state anti-corruption agency confirmed having opened an investigation related to the project, but did not disclose details.
Kushner has been pursuing similar development projects in the Balkans. One proposed luxury development in Serbia it became the subject of controversy over the heritage status of the site.
The arrest of a government minister for abuse of power in connection with the project ultimately led Kushner to withdraw from the proposal earlier this year.
Lands in dispute
The government claims that the land allocated to the project are privately owned – especially along the Zvernec coast – but there are lawsuits challenging the privatization, which is a common type of legal dispute, according to Vladimir Karay, a journalist at the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
“The ownership conflict is one of the biggest conflicts in the country. More than 10 years ago, at least a third of homicide cases in Albania were related to property disputes and even today there are such cases at least once or twice a year, every year,” he says.
After the fall of Albania’s totalitarian communist regime – under which all property belonged to the state – the country underwent a chaotic transition to private property of land in the 1990s, with some disputes generating violence.
“From the beginning this created conflicts, even within small villages, from village to village, from house to house. People said it was their father’s land and took it. That’s not right.”
