Albanians protest Kushner-linked resort plan threatening protected coast

A luxury resort tied to Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has turned a protected stretch of Albania’s Adriatic coast into a test of influence, land use and public accountability. As bulldozers and heavy machinery arrived near the Narta Lagoon and Vjosa-Narta protected area outside Vlora in late May, thousands of Albanians began rallying against a project they say puts political connections ahead of environmental law.

The development is linked to Affinity Partners, Kushner’s investment firm, and is being described at roughly €1.4 billion, or about $1.6 billion. Plans include hotels, apartments, villas and a marina, along with construction on Sazan, an uninhabited island that once housed a communist-era military base. Environmental groups say the footprint could run across several hundred hectares of pristine beaches and sensitive habitat, including wetlands used by flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites. One ornithologist has said more than 1% of the world’s flamingo population is in Albania, underscoring how high the stakes are for a country that has tried to market its coast as an unspoiled draw.

Protesters have answered with pink flamingo imagery, cardboard cutouts and inflatable birds, turning the movement into what activists call the Flamingo Revolution. “Albania is not for sale” has become its defining slogan. Demonstrations in Tirana have stretched across multiple days, and the pressure intensified after private security guards allegedly assaulted demonstrators and fenced off land and beach access with barbed wire. Protesters also accused police of failing to intervene, deepening the sense that the state was shielding a politically connected project rather than enforcing public order.

The backlash has moved beyond a single resort plan. Albania’s anti-corruption prosecution body, SPAK, opened a probe into the project, including 2024 legislative changes tied to protected-status rules and the way the land was obtained. Prime Minister Edi Rama has defended the resort as a strategic investment that could strengthen Albania’s tourism ambitions, while Economy and Innovation Minister Delina Ibrahimaj said environmental impact assessments are being drafted and the project must comply with environmental law. Developers say their focus is responsible stewardship, environmental enhancement, job creation and long-term value for local communities; supporters argue the wider plan could create more than 10,000 jobs and help push the project’s value above €4 billion.

For many opponents, the dispute is about more than one coastline. It has become a broader referendum on whether Albania can welcome foreign capital, protect public land and keep its democratic institutions from being bent by powerful interests. With EU accession talks still hanging in the balance, the fight over Narta has become a measure of how seriously the country will police influence at the top.