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Ivanka Trump, recently described the project as "the culmination" of her experience in real estate. Alamy Stock Photo
trump island
Why are Albanians protesting a luxury resort linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner?
Local demonstrators say a luxury tourism project backed by Jared Kushner threatens one of Europe’s most important coastal ecosystems.
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE have taken to the streets in Albania this week to protest against a proposed luxury resort development linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
The project, which includes plans for a high-end tourism complex on the island of Sazan and a protected stretch of Albania’s southern coastline, has become one of the country’s most controversial developments, sparking environmental concerns, allegations of secrecy and an anti-corruption investigation.
While Albania’s government has championed the project as a major economic opportunity, opponents argue it threatens one of Europe’s most ecologically sensitive coastal regions.
What is the project?
Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, is behind plans to develop a luxury resort on Sazan, an uninhabited island in the Adriatic Sea that was once a secret communist-era military base.
The wider project also includes development around the Vjosa-Narta region near the village of Zvërnec, an area known for its wetlands, lagoons and protected wildlife habitats.
According to plans previously outlined by Kushner, the investment could be worth around €1.4 billion and would transform Sazan into a luxury tourism destination featuring high-end hotels and holiday facilities.
His wife, Ivanka Trump, recently described the project as “the culmination” of her experience in real estate, saying the couple first discovered the island after swimming ashore from a friend’s boat.
“Over the course of many years, we developed the opportunity to help realise its potential and transform it, but with a lot of restraint and care, because the land is so beautiful that really the architecture has to be fully integrated into it, almost rise from it,” Ivanka Trump told US podcaster David Guera.
Affinity Partners has been granted special investor status by Albanian authorities for the project.
Why are people angry?
The biggest concern centres on the environment.
The Vjosa-Narta region is one of the most critical and unique ecological hotspots in Europe and provides habitat for hundreds of protected species, including flamingos, Dalmatian pelicans and the endangered Mediterranean monk seal.
Environmental groups, such as the Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania, (PPNEA) argue that construction work has already begun damaging protected habitats.
Protesters say excavators have entered sensitive areas, ancient sand dunes have been disturbed and sections of coastline have been fenced off with barbed wire.
Many locals have also complained that access to land and beaches has been restricted.
“This has gone beyond being an environmental issue now,” Aleksandr Trajce, head of the PPNEA, told the Guardian.
“It’s a citizen thing. It’s much bigger.”
Thousands took to the streets of Tirana for a third straight day on Wednesday to protest the plans, some of them brandishing inflatable flamingos in a nod to the feared environmental damage.
During the protests, which carried on into the night, protesters clashed with police, though according to local media there are no reports of injuries or arrests available yet.
What are campaigners demanding?
Environmental organisations insist they are not opposed to investment or tourism.
Instead, they are calling for construction work to be suspended until independent environmental assessments are completed.
Campaigners are also seeking greater transparency around permits, environmental studies and the legal changes introduced by Albania’s parliament in 2024 which made tourism developments easier in some protected areas.
More than 40 environmental organisations have called for the project to be paused while those questions are examined.
Is there an investigation?
Yes. Albania’s anti-corruption prosecution office, the SPAK, has confirmed it has opened an investigation into the site, linked to legislative changes affecting protected areas and questions surrounding land ownership connected to the development.
Authorities have not yet announced any findings.
The investigation comes after clashes between protesters and private security guards near the site. Several police officers were suspended and the licences of two security companies were revoked following the incidents.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has strongly defended the project and says it could help transform Albania into a high-end tourism destination.
He has argued that Albania should remain open to major international investment and insists the development will proceed.
“There is absolutely no chance that the investment will stop as long as I am here,” he said this week.
In an interview with CNN International on Wednesday, Rama also pushed back on environmental concerns.
“In this protest there are well-meaning people, young people interested genuinely to the environment that have been misled big time,” Rama said.
“There is not such a thing like a Trump family island. There is not such a thing like the family of the American president taking over protected areas where flamingos will be killed”.
Albanians have taken to the streets of Tirana to protest a plan linked to President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to build a luxury resort in protected wetlands on the Albanian coast.
— Isa Soares (@IsaCNN) June 3, 2026
Yet Albania’s PM tells me “there is no project,” dismissing the story as fake news. pic.twitter.com/4mMTWLJAHP
Developers have also rejected suggestions they are ignoring environmental concerns, saying they remain committed to “responsible stewardship” and creating jobs for local communities.
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