For the fourth day in Tirana, thousands of people hold placards reading "Albania is not for sale" and "Ivanka, go home." The reason is a resort worth between 1.4 to 4 billion euros on Sazan Island and in the Vjosa-Narta lagoon, promoted by Affinity Partners of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
How it worked
At the end of 2024, the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama granted the company Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC — a structure connected to Kushner — the status of "strategic investor." This provided access to state land and benefits bypassing standard competitive procedures. In parallel, as established by the anti-corruption prosecutor SPAK, the legal status of coastal plots changed: previously they were protected areas.
The Vjosa-Narta lagoon is a nesting site for sea turtles, a stopover for flamingos, and habitat for Mediterranean monk seals. Sazan Island is a former military base: according to documents from Albania's General Staff, around it are naval mines and 200-millimeter artillery shells from World War II covering an area of over 5,000 square meters. No demining program was announced before construction began.
Who stands behind the project
Kushner is not the only player. According to Balkan Insight and the New York Times, Qatari billionaires from the Power International Holding group, who previously built infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, became involved in the project. Affinity Partners, in turn, received 2 billion dollars from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund during Trump's first presidency — a fact that opponents call a structural conflict of interest: Kushner simultaneously conducts business and serves as a US special envoy for peace.
"Albania should not be afraid of such a remarkable project. There is no chance that this investment will stop while I am here"
— Prime Minister Edi Rama, in response to protests
Rama defends the project as "transformational" for a country seeking EU membership and access to the elite tourism market. But this very rhetoric raises skepticism: Albania is negotiating EU membership, and Brussels is monitoring the rule of law and environmental protection.
Serbian precedent
This is not Affinity Partners' first attempt in the Balkans. A similar development project in Serbia collapsed in 2025 after a public scandal and investigation by local anti-corruption bodies. The scheme was similar: priority investor status, land with restricted access, minimal transparency.
What SPAK is investigating
The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor is examining whether changes to the legal status of Sazan and Vjosa-Narta lands in 2024 were legally justified, or deliberately cleared the path for a specific project. Separately — a video that went viral: a security guard dragging an activist during a protest at the construction site itself.
- SPAK is investigating the change in status of protected lands in 2024
- Sazan — a former military base with unexploded WWII munitions
- Vjosa-Narta — a wetland reserve, key to Adriatic biodiversity
- "Strategic investor" status granted without open tender
- Affinity Partners' Serbian project already halted after a similar scandal
Ivanka Trump, in an interview with podcaster David Sentry, explained how they found the location: "We were on a friend's yacht, stopped to swim. Actually, that's how we found it." For protesters in Tirana, this detail became symbolic: the decision about the fate of a nature reserve was made not in a planning office, but on the deck of a private yacht.
If SPAK finds evidence that the reclassification of lands was legally unlawful — rather than merely politically convenient — the Rama government will face a choice between an investor from Washington and its own Euro-integration commitments, where the rule of law is a condition, not a wish.
