Thousands marched through Tirana on Saturday against a Jared Kushner-backed luxury resort planned for a protected stretch of Albania’s coast. The protest brought together daily demonstrators from late May and many members of the Albanian diaspora, with Prime Minister Edi Rama under pressure to answer for coastal deals and step aside.
Tirana march draws diaspora crowds
Protesters waved Albanian and US flags, released red balloons and chanted "Albania is not for sale" as the slogan was projected onto the facade of the prime minister’s office. The march appeared to be one of the biggest since the movement began, giving the campaign a scale that went beyond the evening gatherings that have filled Tirana since late May.
Alma, a science student who joined the march, said, "We are not against the country’s development; we are against the arrogance and lack of transparency surrounding projects that affect our lives". Her words captured the line many protesters drew between development itself and the way the resort plan has been handled.
Vjosa-Narta and Sazan Island
The planned resort tied to Ivanka and Jared Kushner, along with another development on nearby Sazan Island, would sit near key breeding grounds for migratory birds in the Vjosa-Narta protected area. That area also includes flocks of flamingos, which have become part of the environmental case protesters use to argue that the coast should not be opened to large-scale construction without fuller scrutiny.
Prime Minister Edi Rama told a party meeting that he would not step down. He also said the controversy is driven more by Kushner’s name and the shadow of Trump than by the project itself, a framing that puts the dispute squarely on the politics around the plan rather than only on the land it would occupy.
Edi Rama faces resignation demand
Protesters accuse Rama of opaque deals along the coast, and many say they will remain on the streets until he resigns. That keeps the fight open on two fronts: the project’s advance in a protected coastal zone and the broader pressure on Rama over how such deals are made, especially when the project is linked to a family name that draws attention far beyond Albania.
The open question is what specific approvals, if any, have been granted for the Kushner-backed resort and the Sazan Island development. Until that is answered, the protest is likely to stay focused on the same demand heard in Tirana on Saturday: no construction without transparency.
