For Ina Shkurti, like many Albanians, the island of Sazan has always been important. As a child, she swam in its “always calm and emerald green” waters. As a teenager, it appeared in her dreams. And as an adult, it was a lasting part of the memories and longing that brought her back every summer to Vlore, her hometown across the sea.
What Shkurti never expected was that plans to build a huge resort on Sazan – one of two luxury complexes on Albania’s southern coast backed by Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner – would spark a revolt. This uprising has shaken the Balkan country with widespread anger over what many see as the excesses of “a rotten oligarchic class,” just as Albania hopes to finish its EU membership talks.
“Am I outraged? Of course I am,” said the cartographer, as the shape of the uninhabited island came into view from a speedboat heading toward its shores. “Sazan is our only island. It’s a small paradise that holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Albanians. Having some rich couple come in, develop it, and then block us from accessing it would be a crime.”
Not since the fall of communism more than thirty years ago has Albania seen such collective anger. At 32, Shkurti – whose family moved to the US when she was 11 – is like many of the tens of thousands, both inside and outside the country, who have taken to the streets in what is now called the “flamingo revolution.” The name comes from the threat these resorts pose to wildlife and fragile ecosystems in the area.
“This government no longer represents us,” she said. “It has chosen to represent oligarch investors like Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. These protests won’t stop, even if they’re no longer just about them.”
Every day, she said, friends from Albania’s diaspora are flying in to join the rallies. In the biggest protest so far, thousands gathered in Tirana over the weekend, many traveling from the US and other parts of Europe, to add their voices to the growing dissent.
In a country with almost no history of public unrest, the protests – which are leaderless and non-partisan – have caught officials in Tirana and the EU by surprise. More and more, demonstrators are targeting a political establishment they blame for the country’s chaotic shift from repressive Stalinist rule. Fears of a crisis are growing.
Amid daily calls for his resignation, Prime Minister Edi Rama has responded with nervousness, humor, and barely hidden anger. But the veteran socialist – once praised in Brussels for his visionary policies and known as a cheerful artist in calmer times – has also refused to back down. Elected for a fourth term last year on a promise to bring the once-isolated country into the EU, he has described the €1.4 billion investment as essential if Albania wants to become the Mediterranean’s “most attractive high-end tourist destination.”
“You have to ask where all of this is going,” said Afrim Krasniqi, director of the Albanian Institute for Political Studies, who doesn’t rule out demonstrators using “more radical” protest methods. “The government, it seems, doesn’t want to believe that all these people on the streets are against it. This lack of dialogue, this lack of empathy, this refusal to find a solution – it’s dangerous.”
Three weeks have passed since the protests first broke out, after bulldozers began clearing clusters of forest and ancient dunes to make way for construction in a protected conservation zone across the water from Sazan.
The Pishë Poro-Narta reserve, home to one of Europe’s last wild rivers, covers much of the Zvërnec peninsula. Its sandy shores protect an inland lagoon that is a major stopover for hundreds of rare birds and more than 70 endangered species.Tensions flared at the first site marked for development when protesters confronted private security guards who had quickly put up a fence to block public access. In the chaos that followed, as demonstrators tried to climb over the barrier, a local landowner was filmed being dragged by guards. His handcuffed body bounced over the rocky ground while shocked onlookers watched. Police officers, controversially, chose not to step in.
A map shows Sazan Island and Zvërnec.
In a podcast released the next day, Ivanka Trump spoke enthusiastically about the real estate project and “this beautiful peninsula with a lagoon on one side, the ocean on the other” that she and her husband, as lead investors, planned to transform. “It’s massive in scale,” she said of the plans to develop Sazan, a former Soviet-era military base with a green landscape of wild fig trees and flowers, dotted with abandoned buildings once used by staff and their families. “Not only the island, but we have 5 miles of beachfront directly across from it,” the US president’s daughter added, referring to the shoreline visible from where the violent scenes took place this month.
“People became very angry,” said Kostandin Xhaho, an environmentalist based in Vlore. “After all, Sazan is a historic monument. I have friends who grew up in those buildings, and both the island and Zvërnec are important habitats for flamingos, monk seals, and loggerhead sea turtles. The idea of building a 10,000-room resort on the peninsula sparked what I think you’d call an explosion.”
Flamingos in the Vjosa-Narta protected area. Photograph: Florion Goga/Reuters
The prospect of what critics called “the worst kind of global elite” plundering natural reserves in one of Europe’s poorest countries quickly tapped into deep anger over exploitation that highlights other inequalities.
The project got preliminary approval after the Albanian parliament changed strict laws protecting environmentally sensitive areas—though there’s no evidence Kushner played any role in that change. Critics say the lack of transparency around the project is a key issue, claiming the investors remain unknown, hidden behind a multi-layered shell company in the Netherlands. Ongoing court cases over property disputes in Zvërnec have also fueled public anger.
“What we want is a new Albania,” said Justina Prenga, 24, who recently traveled from the northern city of Shkodër to join protesters in the capital. Outside the shuttered 1930s building that houses the prime minister’s office, cries of “Rama ik” (Rama resign) are heard every night. “We’re Gen Z and we’re saying ‘enough is enough’—our country isn’t for sale.”
‘The birds will fly away’: can Albania’s flamingo revolution keep its wetlands free from Trumps and tourists? Read more
She said the outcry had gone “way beyond” the Kushners, even if her friends didn’t know “whether to laugh or cry” when they heard Trump’s “Christopher Columbus-style” account of discovering Sazan in the podcast. “We want this project stopped, but really, it’s about everything that is wrong with Albania. Sali Berisha should also resign. He made our country what it is today, so he should go to jail too,” she said of the main opposition leader, a former president and prime minister once barred from entering the UK due to alleged links to crime and corruption.
Draped in a giant red and black Albanian flag, Lizander Saraci agreed. A risk manager at a private bank, he represents an older generation that has also joined the movement.
“It’s been more than 30 years, and still our hospitals are terrible, our education system is crap, there are no jobs, and everyone is leaving,” said the father of two, who often attends the rallies.He said about his children, “The protests are huge because people are fed up with this injustice. They’re tired of all the corruption. One of our slogans is ‘stop the dictatorship of dirty money’ because we’ve learned from experience that similar projects only ever benefit a small group of wealthy people.”
Last week, the European Parliament also got involved. In a resolution, MEPs supported the protesters and urged the government to stop building in protected areas. Some criticized the “predatory capitalists” who took advantage of laws that let strategic investors speed up similar projects—a law Brussels has called unfair and has long asked Tirana to cancel. EU officials say that without agreement on environmental laws, accession talks cannot be completed. “We would expect Albania, a year and a half away from this goal, to have aligned itself with these EU standards,” Silvio Gonzato, the EU’s ambassador to Albania, told the Guardian.
Elpiniqi Merkuri, the head of Vlore’s municipal council, supports the development, saying it will “help boost confidence.”
Rama stood his ground in response to the EU Parliament’s vote, promising to continue the Zvërnec development “based on an environmental impact assessment according to European Union standards.” He has repeatedly called what is Albania’s biggest investment ever “a blessing” that will not only provide much-needed jobs but “ultimately result in about 25% more trees and green space.”
Last year, the country of 3 million people attracted about 12 million tourists, many drawn as much by its natural beauty as its affordability. “This is also about direction,” said Shkurti. “Do we really want that kind of development when, clearly, the infrastructure can barely handle it?”
But Rama has his supporters. Albert Pushka, the owner of a newly opened fish restaurant outside Vlore, is so enthusiastic he named the business Ivanka. When asked about the development, 48-year-old Walter Dimraj gave a Trump-like thumbs-up and said, “Albania has to grow up. It has to seize this chance. If we don’t do it, the Greeks will.”
Elpiniqi Merkuri, a psychologist who leads Vlore’s municipal council, believes the resort will help boost confidence at a time when the older generation still “cannot find the courage” to talk about the brutality of the past. “People tend to feel calmer and more optimistic when they see development, new opportunities, and well-designed environments,” she said, as cows and sheep wandered around the area where construction workers recently broke ground.
Standing by the salt flats overlooking the lagoon, Ledi Selgjekaj wishes she could agree. This is where the young ornithologist has come for the past five years, rising at dawn to monitor the behavior and breeding patterns of shore birds.
“Back then, they had just started construction on Vlore’s new international airport,” she said, looking through her binoculars beyond the wetlands towards its tower. “And that’s when we began to see ecological corridors being disrupted and jackals and other predators targeting wildlife in the lagoon.” Flamingos and their egg-filled nests were especially affected, she said. “The airport, when it starts operating, is going to be a disaster. If these resorts go ahead, it will be the kiss of death.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about the We want a new Albania protests and the Jared Kushnerbacked resort controversy written in a natural conversational tone
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What is the We want a new Albania protest all about
Its a series of demonstrations against the Albanian governments plan to build a luxury resort on a pristine beach called Zvrnec People are angry because they feel the deal was made behind closed doors and favors a foreign investor without considering the local environment or public opinion
2 Who is Jared Kushner and why is he involved
Jared Kushner is Donald Trumps soninlaw and a former White House advisor His investment firm is backing the resort project This has made the protests especially political as many Albanians see it as a symbol of elite foreigndriven development
3 Is the protest just about the beach or something bigger
It started over the beach but its grown into a broader anger toward the government Protesters say the deal is a perfect example of corruption lack of transparency and ignoring local voices The slogan We want a new Albania means they want a government that listens to its people not just wealthy investors
4 Why are people so upset about a resort
They say the project will destroy a protected natural area block public access to the beach and turn a beautiful coastline into a private playground for the rich Many also believe the government rushed the approval process to benefit a politically connected foreigner
5 Has the government responded to the protests
Yes but not in a way that satisfied protesters Officials defend the project saying it will create jobs and boost tourism They have dismissed the protests as politically motivated which only made people angrier
Advanced InDepth Questions
6 What specific laws or procedures do protesters claim the government broke
Protesters and environmental groups argue that the project bypassed proper environmental impact assessments and violated laws protecting coastal zones They say the land was rezoned from publicagricultural to touristcommercial use without a fair public consultation period which is required by Albanian law
7 How does this resort deal compare to other controversial projects in Albania
Its part of a pattern Many Albanians are frustrated with what they see as the governments
