Kushner-linked Albania resort plan draws nightly protests

A luxury tourism project on Albania’s Adriatic coast tied to Jared Kushner is facing widening street protests over environmental damage and land questions. The dispute matters for Albania’s push to court high-end tourism investment while seeking closer integration with Europe.

The Associated Press reported that thousands of demonstrators have gathered at night in Tirana, waving Albanian flags, blowing whistles and carrying cardboard flamingos, a reference to protected migratory birds in the area. The protests target plans for development around the Narta Lagoon and the nearby island of Sazan, according to AP.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has defended the project and told AP his government would not retreat. Rama said opponents were spreading “half-truths” and accused hostile cyber activists abroad, including Iran-linked actors, of fueling anger against his government. Iran has denied similar allegations by Albania in past disputes, AP reported.

What is planned

The project includes a larger coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area, described by AP as a wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort on Sazan, an uninhabited former communist-era military base. Plans include hotels, apartments, villas and a marina, according to AP.

An investment firm linked to Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, has received special investor status from Albanian authorities, AP reported. Ivanka Trump, Trump’s daughter and Kushner’s wife, described the couple’s first visit to the island in an interview with U.S. podcaster David Senra, saying they reached it from a friend’s boat, swam ashore and hiked barefoot before being taken with the site.

Rama has said the development would help Albania become a major international tourism destination. He described the investment as worth 4 billion euros, or about $4.6 billion, and said there was no chance it would stop while he remained in office, according to AP.

Why opponents object

Environmental campaigners say the project threatens one of Albania’s key biodiversity zones. AP reported that the area serves as an important stop on the Adriatic route used by migratory birds, and protesters have used flamingo cutouts to draw attention to species they say could be affected.

Since late May, heavy equipment has entered the area, AP reported. Excavators and other machinery have opened access routes, dug into sand, cleared land among pine trees and put up fencing.

Environmental groups in Albania and elsewhere in Europe have condemned the work. One local group said protected habitats were being irreversibly destroyed, according to AP.

Public anger also rose after video showed an activist being dragged by a private security guard during a demonstration at the site, AP reported. Protest groups have warned that parts of Albania’s relatively undeveloped coastline could be taken over by powerful investors.

Land and corruption questions

Albania’s state anti-corruption agency has confirmed it opened an investigation related to the project, though it has not released details, AP reported. The government says the land designated for the development is privately owned, while competing claims have challenged the privatization.

The controversy has also drawn comparisons to a separate Kushner-linked plan in Serbia. AP reported that Serbia’s Parliament passed a special law in November to enable a luxury project in Belgrade backed by a Kushner-linked investment company.

The next month, Serbia’s organized crime prosecutor charged four people, including a government minister, with abuse of office and document falsification tied to efforts to clear the way for that project, according to AP. Kushner later withdrew from the planned investment, which would have replaced a bombed-out military complex in a protected heritage area whose legal status had been changed by former officials now on trial.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.