{"id":7063,"date":"2026-06-04T15:35:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/thousands-protest-in-albania-against-coastal-resort-linked-to-jared-kushner\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T15:35:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:35:35","slug":"thousands-protest-in-albania-against-coastal-resort-linked-to-jared-kushner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/thousands-protest-in-albania-against-coastal-resort-linked-to-jared-kushner\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands protest in Albania against coastal resort linked to Jared Kushner"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Environmental organisations have called for the project\u2019s suspension, citing threats to biodiversity, while Albania\u2019s Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama has defended the project.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Thousands of Albanians have protested in the capital Tirana against a coastal tourism complex planned by a company linked to Jared Kushner, son-in-law of the United States President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The project includes the construction of hotels on the uninhabited island of Sazan and in the protected coastal area of Vjosa-Narta, a wetland home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites in the southern community of Zvernec.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/11\/13\/italys-pm-meloni-determined-to-continue-sending-migrants-to-albania\">Italy\u2019s PM Meloni determined to continue sending migrants to Albania<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/11\/4\/russia-will-not-attack-any-other-european-country-albanian-pm-edi-rama\">\u2018Russia will not attack any other European country\u2019: Albanian PM Edi Rama<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/6\/man-on-trial-in-albania-kills-judge-injures-two-others-in-shooting\">Man on trial in Albania kills judge, injures two others in shooting<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Chanting \u201ccancel the project\u201d and holding \u201cAlbania is not for sale\u201d banners, the protesters on Wednesday demanded the government block the resort project, which has raised concerns over environmental damage and corruption.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, the special prosecutor\u2019s office to combat corruption and organised crime (SPAK) said it had opened an investigation into the funds used for acquiring the land titles and their sale to investors.<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s demonstration followed an initial gathering in Zvernec on Saturday, where dozens of people, including environmental activists, protested over the installation of barbed wire blocking access to the beach.<\/p>\n<p>Private security guards attacked and injured several protesters, leading authorities to suspend several police officers and revoke the licences of two private security companies.<\/p>\n<p>It has not been confirmed that the land surrounded by barbed wire has been bought by Kushner\u2019s investment firm, Affinity Partners. Kushner presented a plan for development projects in Albania two years ago.<\/p>\n<p>According to that plan, Kushner intended to transform Sazan \u2013 formerly a secret communist military base \u2013 into a luxury tourist destination, a development worth an estimated 1.4 billion euros ($1.2bn). Luxury hotels were also planned in Zvernec.<\/p>\n<p>In January, about 40 environmental organisations called for the suspension of the resort plans, citing threats to biodiversity.<\/p>\n<p>Protesters gathered outside the office of Albania\u2019s socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama on Tuesday evening, holding inflatable flamingos and signs that read \u201cnation is not for sale\u201d and \u201cI don\u2019t want Albania like Dubai\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4626910\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4626910\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/afp_6a218df05360-1780583920.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Protestors take part in a demonstration in front of the prime minister's office, against the construction of a luxury resort near a protected natural area, in Tirana on June 2, 2026.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4626910\">A protest in Tirana at the prime minister\u2019s office against the construction of a luxury resort near a protected natural area, June 2, 2026 [AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe want all construction to halt and heavy machines out of the protected area,\u201d said Joni Vorpsi, an ecologist with the PPNEA-BirdLife Albania organisation. \u201cThis would be a new city with around 10,000 rooms and it will completely destroy that wild region.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rama had invited the protesters to choose a delegation of about 20 people to discuss potential solutions, but the protesters rejected the proposal.<\/p>\n<p>Rama publicly defended the project on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt 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,\u201d he said in a statement shared with the Reuters news agency. \u201cThere is absolutely no chance that the investment will stop as long as I am here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kushner\u2019s plans for Albania were part of a wider investment that also included a former army headquarters in the Serbian capital Belgrade. Last year, he gave up the Serbia project following <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/3\/24\/thousands-rally-in-serbia-against-trump-son-in-laws-real-estate-project\">protests against it<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Environmental organisations have called for the project\u2019s suspension, citing threats to biodiversity, while Albania\u2019s Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama has defended the project. Thousands of Albanians have protested in the capital Tirana against a coastal tourism complex planned by a company linked to Jared Kushner, son-in-law of the United States President Donald Trump. The project &#8230; <a title=\"Thousands protest in Albania against coastal resort linked to Jared Kushner\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/thousands-protest-in-albania-against-coastal-resort-linked-to-jared-kushner\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Thousands protest in Albania against coastal resort linked to Jared Kushner\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}