TIRANA, June 3 (Reuters) – Thousands of Albanians took to the streets of Tirana on Tuesday night protesting against a development planned by a company linked with Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on an environmentally sensitive part of the Adriatic coast.
The €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) resort is being led by Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners on an island off Albania and an undeveloped stretch of coastline near the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape, a wetland home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites.
Environmentalists oppose the plan, which they say would impact several hundred hectares of pristine beaches.
Developers say they will progress responsibly.
“Our focus remains on responsible stewardship, environmental enhancement, job creation, and creating long-term value for local communities. We respect the ongoing public and institutional processes,” said Asher Abehsera, chairman of Sazan Real Estate Development LLC, which is developing the plans in partnership with Kushner’s firm.
Affinity Partners and Kushner did not respond to requests for comment.
Protesters gathered outside the office of Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama on Tuesday evening, holding inflatable flamingoes and signs that read “Nation is not for sale” and “I don’t want Albania like Dubai”.
“We want all construction to halt and heavy machines out of the protected area,” said Joni Vorpsi, an ecologist with PPNEA-BirdLife Albania organisation.
“This would be a new city with around 10,000 rooms and it will completely destroy that wild region.”
Rama defended the project on Tuesday.
“It 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,” he said in a statement shared with Reuters.
“There is absolutely no chance that the investment will stop as long as I am here.”
Protests by locals and non-profit organisations started after large barbed wire fences were erected by developers at the proposed site in Zvernec, near Vlora.
Several hundred gathered and clashed with private guards on Saturday and some were injured, a Reuters witness said.
Kushner announced plans to build the resort in 2024 as 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 street protests against it.
($1 = 0.8610 euros)
(Reporting by Florion Goga, Fatos BytyciEditing by Edward McAllister and Peter Graff)
