Mass protests erupt in Albania over Kushner-linked luxury resort on protected coastline

Jun 16, 2026

Mass protests have erupted in Albania over a luxury resort project on a protected coastline linked to Jared Kushner. The development in the ecologically sensitive Vjose-Narte area has sparked the largest demonstrations since the fall of communism, with calls for Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation. An anti-corruption agency has frozen assets and is investigating the project, which critics say endangers Albania's EU membership bid.

Kushner-Trump Albania resort project

▪An LLC linked to Jared Kushner, Atlantic Incubation Partners, was granted "strategic investor" status by Albania's government in 2025.
▪Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump plan to build a luxury resort on Sazan Island and a five-mile stretch of Albanian coastline in Zvérnec.

Vjose-Narte protected ecosystem threats

▪The proposed resort is located in the Vjose-Narte protected area, a wetland home to migratory birds.
▪A construction company has already built an access road for bulldozers into the protected area.
▪The Vjose-Narte area is home to over 250 bird species, including flamingos, black-winged stilts, and common terns.

Mass protests against Rama

▪Protesters are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama over his government's support for the project.
▪Ivanka Trump's comments on a podcast about "discovering" the island are credited with supercharging local anger and drawing international attention.
▪Up to 200,000 people have participated in daily protests for more than two weeks.
▪Mass protests, described as the largest since the fall of communism, have erupted in Albania against the resort project.

Corruption investigation asset freeze

▪The investigation involves Albania Land Development, a company owned by Qatari brothers Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat, who are helping finance the resort.
▪On June 2, 2026, Albanian prosecutors froze the bank accounts of a firm that purchased land in the protected area as part of the investigation.
▪Albania's anti-corruption agency, SPAK, has opened an investigation into the Kushner-linked project.

Shell company ownership structure

▪The project is connected to a string of shell companies from Albania to the Netherlands, some sharing an address in Amsterdam and worth a single euro.
▪The shell companies lead to a firm named Interroyal BV, which is 50% controlled by a Russian and a Bulgarian citizen.

EU membership implications

▪In 2024, Prime Minister Edi Rama's government passed a law that removed the area's protected status, allowing for hotel construction.
▪A group of environmental organizations has filed legal challenges against the Albanian government, arguing the project violates national and EU laws.
▪The resort land is protected under the European Union's "Natura 2000" ecological network, which Albania, as an EU candidate, is subject to.