Mass protests have been taking place since Monday 1 June in Albania over the development of a luxury resort by Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.

The country’s capital city, Tirana, has seen thousands of protesters demonstrating daily against the environmental damage that could take place as a result of the estimated US$1.6 billion (€1.5 billion, £1.2 billion) project. 

The site is being developed by Sazan Real Estate Development in partnership with Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners. Studio Genesis created renderings for the project. The plan is for a luxury resort that includes hotels, a marina, commercial spaces and more than 1,500 residences.

Ivanka Trump announced in an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman in 2024 that Aman will operate a luxury hotel at the resort, but it is not known if this arrangement ever came to fruition or is still in place and Aman has not commented.

Groundwork has begun in an area that is well known for being one of the Mediterranean’s most environmentally sensitive. 

The resort site is on Albania’s only island, Sazan, which measures 1,400 hectare and is a military exclusion zone from the Cold War era.

The project also includes wetlands and coastal habitats in the surrounding Karaburun-Sazan National marine national park. Five miles of protected coastal landscape north of the village of Zvërnec are also part of the plans.

These areas are, according to environmental groups, some of the last places in the world where endangered species live. These include the Mediterranean monk seal and endangered birds such as flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans. The area is also home to more than 200 bird species.

Aleksandr Trajce, executive director of the country’s leading conservation group, the Protection and Preservation of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), said “From start to finish there has been a total lack of transparency.”

He said the project has not undergone a public consultation or the relevant permit process. Trajce said that discussions could begin once the developers remove construction equipment, fences and restore the habitats.

The Albanian government says the land has been purchased, but the Albanian Special Prosecution Office Against Corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK) has opened an investigation into changes in the island’s protected status and land ownership.

Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, has defended the development, saying it will not damage the country’s coastline. He sees the project as the first chapter in the evolution of the country’s tourism offering – from post-Stalinist state to ultra-luxury holiday destination. Rama says the development will bring a €4 billion (US$4.6 billion, £3.4 billion) investment, which will fund both jobs and improved infrastructure in the country.

Rama is keen to attract investment to the country in order to meet his fourth-term election pledge to get Albania into the EU by 2030.

Jared Kushner in Belgrade

Kushner withdrew from plans earlier this year to build a hotel in Belgrade, Serbia, earlier this year. 

Fierce local opposition to the proposals for a Trump International Hotel in the city and the arrest of a government minister for abuse of office in connection with the project led to its demise.