Thousands protest Kushner-backed resort plan in Tirana, Albania

Thousands of people flooded central Tirana on June 10 in the biggest protest yet against a luxury resort plan tied to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump on Albania’s Adriatic coast. The crowd stretched half a mile along one of the capital’s main boulevards outside Prime Minister Edi Rama’s office, with placards reading “Albania is not for sale” and chants of “New Albania.”

The dispute has grown far beyond a local zoning fight. Protesters say the project would push major construction into the Vjosa-Narta protected area and nearby shorelines that sustain flamingoes, seals and sea turtle nesting sites. Albania’s special prosecutor, SPAK, opened an investigation on June 4 into the funds used to acquire land titles and their sale to investors, deepening suspicions around a project many critics already view as a test of public trust.

The plan is expected to cost about 5 billion euros and includes hotels on Sazan Island and in the protected coastal area near Zvernec. Some reports say it could eventually include as many as 10,000 hotel rooms. Environmental groups say the scale alone raises alarm because several hundred hectares of pristine coastline could be affected, while Albania’s economy minister has said environmental impact assessments are still being drafted and that the project must fully comply with environmental law.

The protests intensified after barbed wire blocked beach access and private security guards injured several demonstrators, prompting authorities to suspend some police officers and revoke the licenses of two private security companies. BirdLife International said heavy machinery had been tearing through the Pishë Poro-Narta Protected Area since late April without permits and without an environmental impact assessment, and warned that damage to sand dunes designated as Natural Monuments could take hundreds of years to repair. The group said the area lies on the Adriatic Flyway and shelters more than 70 endangered species and more than 200 bird species.

The symbolism has only sharpened the backlash. Kushner and Ivanka Trump visited the site in January 2026, and Rama later said discussions were continuing. Critics see the project as an emblem of opaque decision-making, foreign capital and political favoritism in a country still trying to balance tourism growth against conservation. Ornithologist Ledi Selgjekaj has said more than 1% of the world’s flamingo population is in Albania, a figure that has made the fate of the wetlands a national argument about who controls the country’s coast and on what terms.