Updated
Updated · Esquire · Jun 5
Albania Police Clash With Protesters Over Kushner's €1.4 Billion Coastal Resort
Updated
Updated · Esquire · Jun 5

Albania Police Clash With Protesters Over Kushner's €1.4 Billion Coastal Resort

3 articles · Updated · Esquire · Jun 5

Summary

  • Water cannons and police clashes hit protests in Tirana on Wednesday as resistance grew to a €1.4 billion luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
  • The plan covers Sazan island and coastline near the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape, where environmentalists say several hundred hectares of beaches and habitat for flamingos, seals and nesting sea turtles are at risk.
  • Albania's government has granted a Kushner-linked investment firm special investor status and says the development would help push the country into high-end tourism and support its EU ambitions.
  • Developers say they will proceed with responsible stewardship and local job creation, but the project has become a broader flashpoint over transparency, land concessions and Prime Minister Edi Rama's backing.

Insights

Can Albania’s anti-corruption body derail Jared Kushner’s €4 billion coastal resort project?
How did a protected national park become the site for a massive €4 billion luxury development?