Ivanka Trump calls it the capstone of her real estate career. Thousands of Albanians, however, call it a threat to one of their country’s untouched stretches of coastline. Demonstrations have filled the streets of Tirana for days over plans for development along the Adriatic coast, as well as a luxury resort on the uninhabited Sazan Island, per the Washington Post. The proposal, backed by Trump and husband Jared Kushner, was enabled by a recent legal change that opened previously protected land in Zvernec to five-star tourism sites.
During a May 31 podcast, Trump said she and Kushner got the idea to develop the island during a barefoot hike there, saying they were “captivated.” She noted that she and Kushner hope to build a “masterpiece” in Albania, per Realtor.com. But environmental groups say the area’s forests, dunes, lagoons, and marshes form a vital Mediterranean habitat and migratory bird corridor, with one protester labeling the project a “wipeout of nature.” The unrest has also zeroed in on Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, accused by critics of bending environmental rules to benefit well-connected investors.
Some posters depict Rama as handing the US president’s daughter a symbolic key to the coastline. Rama argues that the multibillion-dollar development could shift Albania from “low-cost” tourism to the luxury market. “There is no chance for this investment to stop as long as I am here,” he recently proclaimed, per the AP. Protesters, meanwhile, still want the project scrapped, a 180 on laws allowing construction on protected land, and more transparency about the role of Kushner’s Affinity Partners, funded in part by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Representatives for Trump and Kushner haven’t publicly commented.
