Albanian police disperse Kushner-linked resort protest
Police used tear gas, pepper spray and water cannon after a Tirana protest over a planned Adriatic luxury development turned violent, AP reported.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Albanian police used tear gas, pepper spray and a water cannon Thursday against protesters outside parliament in Tirana during a demonstration tied to a planned luxury resort linked to Jared Kushner, the Associated Press reported. The confrontation underscored how an environmental fight over a coastal development has widened into a political challenge to Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government.
Authorities said 12 police officers were injured and 18 protesters were detained, according to AP. Police acted after some demonstrators threw rocks, eggs, plastic bottles and other objects, AP reported.
The protest was part of daily demonstrations that began more than a month ago against a proposed luxury development on Albania’s Adriatic coast. AP reported that the project is linked to Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The campaign has been called the “flamingo revolution,” AP reported. Protesters in recent weeks have blown whistles and carried cardboard flamingos to draw attention to protected migratory birds whose habitat campaigners say could be threatened by the development.
Environmental protest broadens into political anger
The dispute centers on plans for a high-end coastal project at Narta Lagoon, including an abandoned island and nearby seafront area, according to AP. Environmental campaigners and critics of Rama’s government have opposed the venture.
The Albanian government says the development would help reshape tourism in the former communist country, AP reported. Rama’s government has sought to bring Albania into the higher-end tourism market while pursuing European Union membership.
Several hundred people gathered Thursday outside Albania’s parliament, AP reported. Demonstrators called for Rama to resign and chanted that he should go to jail.
Some protesters used part of a metal barrier to smash the windows of a police vehicle, according to AP. Police then moved to disperse the crowd with crowd-control weapons and water cannon.
Agustela Thoma, identified by AP as a protester, said demonstrators wanted lawmakers and the prime minister to hear them. “The protesters want their voice to be heard inside (the parliament), as the prime minister for so many days has not heard them and has ignored them,” Thoma said, according to AP. “But enough is enough.”
Government condemns violence against police
Interior Minister Besfort Lamallari denounced what he called “the acts of vandalism and criminal violence” directed at police, AP reported. He said officers serve public order and the safety of citizens.
“Police officers are public servants, citizens of the Republic, and family members just like everyone else,” Lamallari said, according to AP. “They serve the law, public order, and the safety of every citizen, without distinction. An attack against them is an attack against the state.”
The demonstrations began over environmental objections to the resort plan but have increasingly focused on opposition to Rama and his Socialist government, AP reported. Thousands of Albanians have joined street protests in recent weeks as the dispute over Narta Lagoon has become a broader test of public anger toward the government.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.