Why Are Albanians Protesting Against Donald Trump’s Son-in-Law Jared Kushner’s Resort Project? | Explained
Some 200 protesters on Saturday tore down metal and razor wire fences surrounding a luxury development site on Albania’s Adriatic coast, in another sign of growing anger against construction in environmentally sensitive areas. Albanians have been protesting for weeks against a planned luxury resort backed by a company linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, near Vlora, which is famed for its flamingos and a turtle nesting site. On Saturday, villagers from Rrjoll, located in an area of sandy beaches and pine forests in northwestern Albania, protested against another project not linked to Kushner, saying it was being built on their confiscated land. They waved Albanian national flags and shouted “Revolution” as they tore down the fences. Some scuffles with police broke out but the police did not stop them from removing the fencing.
“The protests will not stop until the residents of the village of Rrjoll are compensated. We are 200 families whose land has been seized,” Zeke Nikolle Shullani, 56, one of the landowners who have been protesting for several months, told Reuters.
Why are Albanians protesting?
An Albanian company has been developing a five-star luxury tourist resort on the site and the project was granted “special status investor” by the Albanian government.
“What is happening in this country is madness,” said Nikolin Markpalaj, 60, another local landowner. “We asked the investors to come and consult with the people but they refused. They think they can take all this wealth without blood or anything else that might happen here?”
Prime Minister Edi Rama, who championed the deal in an interview with Reuters this week, asserts that the development is legal and that habitats would be protected.
Why Jared Kushner is interested in Zvernec, Albania
Zvernec is on a narrow peninsula separated from the mainland by a lagoon where flamingos flock in summer. The ocean side is lined with empty beaches, olive groves and imposing cliffs.
The scenery won over Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, when they saw the land from a yacht a few years ago. Rama met them on that trip, and Kushner told him he was interested in investing when they ran into each other again at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rama told Reuters.
“You are an American investor, and this country is open to every American investor,” Rama said he recalled telling Kushner.
Kushner vs Villagers
In 2024, Kushner announced the plans on social media with an artist’s rendering showing the land covered in a hotel, houses, pools and jetties for yachts.
The group of villagers in their 70s and 80s have other plans. Their lawyer, Kostandin Beko, said they planned to file a court order seeking to halt the project.
Their claims on the land highlight the problems of investing in Albania, where poor record-keeping, complex history and local corruption mean land disputes are common, lawyers and officials said.
History of Albania
Under Ottoman rule for centuries until 1912, Albania was then cut off from the world for five decades after World War Two by a communist government that fell in the early 1990s.
Properties passed down through generations were requisitioned by the state under communism. When democracy returned, attempts were made to return seized land, but plots were often disputed.
The residents of Zvernec have been in a legal battle with Artur Shehu, who sold the disputed property. He says his family’s claim on the land dates back to the Ottoman Empire.
The residents showed Reuters what they said were property deeds issued by local authorities dated in the 1990s, when the land was given back to residents after communism. The residents and their lawyer said they were not consulted before the land was sold off and received no payment.
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Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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