Demonstrators marched through the streets of Tirana on June 9 after gathering outside the prime minister's office, extending protests against a planned luxury tourism development linked to Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, into a 10th consecutive day.
What began as a local campaign against a proposed tourism project in the coastal area of Zvërnec has evolved into a broader protest movement targeting Prime Minister Edi Rama's government.
Protesters chanted slogans including "Rama in prison, [opposition leader Sali] Berisha in prison" and called for the government's resignation.
The protesters have presented five demands: the resignation of the government, the repeal of legislation governing strategic investors, the cancellation of the so-called Mountain Package, the reversal of amendments to the Law on Protected Areas and the repeal of changes to the Law on Cultural Heritage.
Speaking from a stage outside the government headquarters before the march began, activist Alben Kola urged supporters to continue their campaign.
"It is important to be patient, even though this battle will last several days," Kola said, as reported by Top-Channel TV, adding that Albanian diaspora communities were organising support for the demonstrations.
The protests have been fuelled by opposition to plans backed by a company associated with Kushner to develop tourism projects in the Narta Lagoon area near Zvërnec and on Sazan Island, a former military base off Albania's southern coast.
The Albanian government has granted the investment strategic investor status, arguing that it could attract international capital and boost the country's tourism sector.
Environmental groups and local activists, however, say the developments threaten protected habitats in one of Albania's most important coastal ecosystems. The Narta Lagoon area is a key stopover point for migratory birds and is known for its flamingo populations.
The controversy intensified after video footage circulated online showing a security guard allegedly assaulting a protester near the development site.
Rama acknowledged that the incident had helped broaden public opposition to the project. "This protest was provoked by an ugly act of violence by a security guard against a protester," he told foreign journalists on June 9, according to a transcript posted on his website.
While acknowledging public concern, Rama argued that criticism of the project had become detached from the facts.
"Something changed because suddenly there is no project," he said. "The protest turned into a mass protest with the refrain 'cancel the project, cancel the project'. I said we are canceling it at this moment, but show me the project. There is no project."
The prime minister has repeatedly defended the development plans, describing them as an opportunity to raise Albania's international profile and attract major investors.
When asked whether the government might reconsider its support for the investment, Rama replied: "Step back from what?"
Rama said Albania's environmental record should be taken into account, pointing to hunting and logging restrictions introduced during his years in office.
"We have fantastic documentation of how the wildlife in Albania came back thanks to the 10 years moratorium of hunting," he said.
The dispute has also attracted the attention of Albania's anti-corruption authorities, which have launched an investigation into aspects of the project, including questions surrounding land ownership and privatisation procedures.
‘Act without delay’: Brussels warns Albania over Trump-linked resort project
Published on 09/06/2026 - EURONEWS
A spokesperson for the European Commission has said that Tirana must “refrain from actions that could undermine” its bid to join the European Union, amid concerns that a sprawling coastal development linked to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is in breach of EU environmental standards.
The European Commission has issued a veiled warning to the Albanian government over a €1.4 billion real-estate project linked to US President Donald Trump’s family, as protests over the plans for an ecologically protected area on the Adriatic coast enter their second week.
Responding to a question by Euronews on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the EU executive urged Albanian authorities to “act without delay” in order to avoid jeopardising the country’s bid to join the EU, which will require it to align with the bloc’s environmental rules.
“Albania should refrain from actions that could undermine the fulfilment of the closing benchmark, in this case Chapter 27, and so we expect the Albanian authorities to act without any delay,” spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said, referring to the chapter of EU accession talks which requires a candidate country to align with environmental rules.
He added that the Commission has “expressed concerns to (Albania’s) Minister of the Environment about the potential shortcomings of the project,” and that the minister had assured Brussels that construction work has been “suspended”.
Demonstrators have gathered in Albania’s capital of Tirana and the protected Vjosa-Narta lagoon on the country's Adriatic coast for the past nine days, demanding the cancellation of a luxury real-estate project planned for an ecologically protected coastal area.
The pink flamingo, one of the species threatened by the plans, has emerged as a symbol of the resistance, with protesters seen wielding inflatable versions of the animal, many of them calling for Prime Minister Rama’s resignation.
The plans would involve two protected areas: the Narta Lagoon area, a wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort on the uninhabited island of Sazan. Affinity Partners, the investment firm behind the project which has been granted special access by the Albanian authorities, is linked to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
His wife, Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, described to an US podcast show last week how she and her husband had discovered Sazan island.
“We were on a friend’s boat, and we stopped for a swim. Effectively, that’s how we found it,” Ivanka Trump said. “We swam to the island. We went on a hike, barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated.”
‘Concerns are not new’
A 2015 Albanian law on strategic investments, which Brussels has long called for to be scrapped, is believed to have made it possible for the investment firm linked to Kushner to acquire special authority.
In its annual temperature check of candidate countries’ progress towards becoming EU members last year, Brussels raised concerns about an amendment made to the law in February 2025 which included special exemptions for any investment worth €50 million or more.
“While these measures are designed to boost economic activity, they have also raised concerns about transparency and equitable access, favouritism and lack of competitive processes,” the Commission’s report said.
In the same report, Brussels cautioned Albania against amendments to a law on protected areas which had led to the “unravelling of their protection”, raising concerns over environmental crimes.
Crucially, Albania is considered a frontrunner behind Montenegro in its bid to join the EU. Accession negotiations, which are split into 33 chapters under four thematic clusters, are currently ongoing, including on the chapter related to environmental standards.
Closing the chapter will be critical if the country is to sustain its momentum in its accession bid.
The project is currently being probed by Albania's independent anti-corruption and anti-mafia prosecution body, SPAK. The agency is believed to be investigating changes made to a 2024 Albanian law which removed long-standing protections from the country’s most sensitive ecosystems.
Amid widespread protests, Albanian island project also sparks flood of fake claims
The heated controversy surrounding the multi-billion-euro property development project across various Albanian beauty spots has triggered a stream of misleading online claims.
A raft of false claims has emerged around the controversial Albanian property development project linked to Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, concerning the uninhabited island of Sazan, as well as an area of the Vjosa-Narta coastal landscape.
Supporters say the project could boost tourism and investment. Critics argue it risks damaging one of the country's most important natural habitats, as well as selling the country out to foreign investors.
Among the false allegations, one video circulated across social media claimed to depict the home of Albania's prime minister, Edi Rama, burning during the protests in the country.
In reality, the footage can be traced back to February 2026 and displays protesters linked to the Democratic Party burning the former villa of Enver Hoxha, the communist leader who ruled Albania for more than 40 years.
One of the most widely circulated claims alleges that the Albanian real estate project is backed by or tied to the state of Israel.
However, there is no available information to support these theories, which have been fuelled by misleading connections with Kushner's Jewish background, his past role in peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and investments by his hedge fund Affinity Partners in Israel.
One widely circulated social media image depicting a barbed-wire fence, with two flags — one Israeli and one Albanian — has been presented as a new border on the Zvërnec Island. This is false; in reality, the image was digitally manipulated to include the signs with the flags denoting the supposed border.
Other videos claim to show "Israeli settlers" taking over land in Albania, who are chased out by locals. The viral social media clip actually shows protestors in northern Albania, protesting against a separate luxury resort in Baks-Rjoll in Velipojë, and dates back to February 2026.
Prime Minister Rama also denied false allegations that the development project is part of a plan to relocate Palestinians — a claim which has repeatedly surfaced over the years.
He told Euronews, "There is a narrative in the whole thing that this is about a hidden deal between [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi Netanyahu and I, through Jared Kushner, to bring the Palestinians in that part of Albania, which is a total fantasy."
Amid the misinformation, the resort project backed by Kushner's Affinity Partners firm has sparked a real anti-corruption probe.
Albania's anti-corruption prosecutor has opened an investigation into controversial legislation voted in 2024, loosening protections around the country’s most sensitive ecosystems.
Specifically, the investigation centres on the rapid regulatory approvals, potential fraudulent property titles, and questionable land transfers tied to the project, which is slated for the ecologically sensitive Vjosa-Narta wetland area — an important habitat for nesting sea turtles and migratory birds
Albania's PM posts AI video of himself in miniskirt in swipe at online influencers
In a speech, Rama argued that many influencers make money by promoting themselves on social media while paying no taxes to the state.
Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama reposted an AI video of himself wearing a leather mini skirt and bra on his Instagram profile in an apparent swipe against influencers.
“Whoever made this, well done,” he wrote in the post accompanying the video.
The video refers to remarks Rama made during a public event on 7 June, where he mocked bloggers and influencers who supported ongoing protests against a controversial luxury development linked to Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kusher, part of which is due to be built in a conservation area.
In that speech, Rama argued that many influencers make money by promoting themselves on social media while paying no taxes to the state.
Rama said that “bloggers should challenge each other, one dressed as a flamingo and another dressed as me and see who wins.”
Protesters have carried cardboard cut-outs of pink flamingos, one of the protected migratory bird species, at rallies in the capital Tirana.
Earlier, Rama claimed that influencers joined the protests mainly for attention and lacked a real understanding of the situation.
The government says the development on the Adriatic coast would be transformational for the former communist nation as it seeks to enter the high-end tourism market and pushes for European Union membership.
But the venture, spanning a protected island and a nearby stretch of seafront on Albania’s southern coast, has drawn opposition from environmental campaigners and critics of long-time Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.
The luxury project has two components: a coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area, which is a wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort on the nearby uninhabited island of Sazan, a communist-era military base.
The planned development of hotels, apartments, villas and a marina is linked to Kushner and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump.
An investment firm linked to Kushner has been granted special investor status by Albanian authorities.
Albania has 450 kilometres of coast that remained largely underdeveloped during decades of communist rule.
Protest groups fear the sections of that pristine coastline could be snapped up by powerful investors. And public anger grew after video showed an activist being dragged by a private security guard while demonstrating at the site.
The development is planned within a nature reserve and one of Albania’s most valuable biodiversity areas, a key stopover for migratory birds along the Adriatic coast.
Since late May, excavators and other heavy machinery have entered the area, opening access routes, digging into the sand, clearing land among pine trees and installing fencing.
Environmental groups from Albania and elsewhere in Europe condemned the work, with one prominent local group charging that long-protected habitats are being "irreversibly destroyed.”
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