Dua Lipa Backs Protests Against €1.6 Billion Albania Resort as Demonstrations Enter 6th Week
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 14
Dua Lipa Backs Protests Against €1.6 Billion Albania Resort as Demonstrations Enter 6th Week
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 14
Summary
Dua Lipa called Albania’s anti-resort protests “inspiring,” giving the 45-day movement its highest-profile endorsement as demonstrators oppose a Jared Kushner-backed coastal development.
Lipa said her main concern was the Albanian parliament’s 2024 move to weaken environmental protections without public consultation, clearing the way for construction in sensitive areas.
The €1.6 billion project would build on Sazan island and add 10,000 villas on the Zvërnec peninsula, both protected nature areas with important Adriatic wildlife habitats.
Conservation groups said Lipa’s comments could energize younger Albanians, while accusing authorities of acting too late on environmental reviews and allowing damage already at Zvërnec.
The dispute has widened beyond local protests: EU lawmakers have warned Albania’s 2030 accession goal could be at risk, even as Prime Minister Edi Rama still backs the project.
Can Dua Lipa's support for the 'flamingo revolution' actually stop a state-backed project already under construction?
As bulldozers hit protected reserves, will the EU act before Albania's membership bid is destroyed with its coast?
With a criminal probe freezing €110m, is Albania's 'blessing' of a resort a front for illicit finance?
Flamingo Revolution: How Mass Protests Halted Albania’s $2 Billion Luxury Resort and Sparked a National Reckoning Over Environmental Destruction and Corruption
Overview
As of July 14, 2026, construction on the luxury resort in Albania’s Vjosa–Narta Protected Landscape was halted after sustained and escalating protests. Environmental organizations led calls for the project’s suspension, highlighting severe threats to the region’s rich biodiversity and demanding full disclosure of project documents. These actions exposed a lack of public transparency and deep public opposition, while the government’s unwillingness to acknowledge dissent fueled fears of more radical protest measures. The crisis underscores how environmental concerns, public mobilization, and demands for transparency combined to stop the controversial development.