By Fatos Bytyci
TIRANA, June 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of Albanians took to the streets of Tirana late on Thursday in the largest protest this week against a planned luxury resort on an environmentally sensitive part of the Adriatic coast by a company linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
The €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) project is being led by Jared Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners on an island off Albania and an undeveloped stretch of coastline near the Vjosa-Narta protected area, a wetland home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites in the south.
Environmentalists oppose the plan, which they say would affect several hundred hectares of pristine beaches and thousands of flamingos that nest and pass through nearby areas each year.
Groundwork and the arrival of heavy machinery at the Vjosa‑Narta site triggered local protests last week which were followed by large street demonstrations in Tirana.
Protesters gathered again outside the office of Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama late on Thursday, holding pink inflatable flamingos and chanting “revolution” and “stop the project”. A placard read: “Edi Rama, resign.”
“Albania is not for sale. Albania belongs to the Albanian people and we decide what we want to do here. It’s not that some corrupt politicians who run Albania can decide what they can do with our property, with the Albanian heritage, the natural heritage, a cultural heritage,” said Lindita Komani, a writer who joined the protests.
Rama has defended the project. Developers have said their focus will be “responsible stewardship and environmental enhancement.”
Albania’s Economy and Innovation Minister Delina Ibrahimaj said on Thursday that environmental impact assessments are being drafted for the proposed investment which would have to comply fully with environmental legislation and safeguard the local habitat.
European environmental directives and Albanian law provide legal guarantees against projects that could harm the protected lagoon and surrounding habitats, she was quoted as saying by Albania’s state news agency ATA.
Kushner announced plans to build the resort in 2024 as part of a wider investment that also included a former army headquarters in the Serbian capital Belgrade. Last year, he gave up the Serbia project following street protests.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
