Albanian protesters’ campaign to halt a Trump-connected luxury development echoes discontent across the Balkans about outside investors’ mega-projects – with increasingly vocal demands for more public input and transparency.
Since Albania’s ‘Flamingo Revolution’ protests began in May, they have attracted worldwide attention and sparked debate within and outside the Balkans about high-profile investors’ mega-projects.
The protests began in response to the proposed luxury tourism projects on Albania’s Sazan Island and the Zvernec protected coastline. The 1.4 and 4.7 billion euro investments are being led by Affinity Partners, an investment firm run by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump first visited Albania in 2021 and announced plans for the development in 2024.
There has been much to anger locals about the projects, including comments Ivanka Trump made on a podcast where she referred to “discovering” Sazan Island and called the state-owned land a “private island”.
Another more substantive issue is that the Albanian government amended the laws on protected areas on February 22, 2024, allowing five-star hotels to be built inside protected areas. This occurred a month before Kushner’s Albanian projects were announced.
Source: balkaninsight.com
