Albania's Rama vows to push on with Kushner-linked luxury resort despite protests

[riversedge]

Source: msn.com


Story by Edward McAllister • 3h •


TIRANA, June 8 (Reuters) - Albania will plough on with a luxury resort planned by Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on a remote stretch of Balkan coast despite persistent protests over its environmental impact, Prime Minister Edi Rama told Reuters on Monday.



Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the capital Tirana and on the southern coast where the resort has been proposed, calling for the project to be scrapped because of the impact on a protected wetland home to flamingoes, seals and sea turtle nesting sites.

The flamingo has emerged as the movement's symbol: protesters hoist inflatable pink birds and signs saying "Flamingo Revolution".

Rama is unmoved, telling Reuters that the developers will "stun" onlookers with their plans in the coming months and that parts of the resort could be open to the public before the end of the decade.


"I'm telling you, it's going to be a beautiful project and we're going to do it and we're going to be proud to contribute to Europe," Rama said during an interview in his office, a few metres from where nightly demonstrations against the project have taken place.

"I was voted in to make these things happen. I'm not voted to be led by people that have a different idea of how to develop the country."


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Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/albanias-rama-vows-to-push-on-with-kushner-linked-luxury-resort-despite-protests/ar-AA257y0c

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Earlier I read that the PM Rama opposed the project for Kushner, then he did a 180 and now has been pushing the project.


https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA257vjW.img?w=534&h=356&m=6&x=206&y=148&s=154&d=154
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama gestures during an interview with Reuters as Albanians protest against a planned luxury resort backed by a company linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, on an environmentally sensitive part of the Adriatic coast, in Tirana, Albania, June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Florion Goga © Thomson Reuters






As bulldozers roll, ‘flamingo revolution’ erupts in Albania against Kushner-Trump luxury resort

Albanians are rebelling against a luxury resort Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump want to build along a stretch of coast beloved for its flamingos and beautiful beaches.
Cain Burdeau / June 5, 2026

https://www.courthousenews.com/as-bulldozers-roll-flamingo-revolution-erupts-in-albania-against-kushner-trump-luxury-resort/



A June 3, 2026, photo shows protesters holding flamingo cut-outs during a protest in Tirana, Albania, against a luxury resort. (Courtesy of Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania via Courthouse News)



(CN) — It’s dubbed the “flamingo revolution” — a surge of anger and protest against longtime Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and his cozy relationship with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump as they seek to turn a pristine part of Albania’s coast known for its flamingos and beautiful beaches into a vast luxury resort.

The $1.4 billion Trump-Kushner resort is slated for construction on a remote island and the nearby delta of the Vjosa River, a shelter for an assortment of wildlife, including about 3,000 flamingos, Dalmatian pelicans, Loggerhead sea turtles and critically endangered Mediterranean monk seals.......

https://www.courthousenews.com/as-bulldozers-roll-flamingo-revolution-erupts-in-albania-against-kushner-trump-luxury-resort/

[flying_wahini]

1. and to add insult to injury its probably bought and paid for with US taxpayers money.

even the PMs under the table “donation".

[2naSalit]

2. He might notlast long...

People are pissed and will be calling for his hide pretty soon.

I wonder what the interlopers will do if construction workers start hitting unexploded armament and end up dead?

Not that they would care but the locals might be able to make hay with it.

[pwb]

3. A new Epstein Island

for the Wealth trash class?

[ananda]

4. Yes, rich white trash looking for a new bunker park.

Their motto: We broke the world, so now we're hiding.

[2na fisherman]

5. Resort Staffing

Who would be willing to work there? And those who do may be subjected to non-stop protests from all the angry residents who don't want Jared and Ivanka to spoil their country with this Trump stench. Even if it gets built and staffed, who would be able to spend a peaceful holiday there behind barbed wire fences and security guards to keep the protestors at bay?

[Prairie Gates]

6. No doubt getting cut a clandestine check for generational wealth

His children's children's children will still be spending the Kushner graft money.

[Brother Buzz]

7. How do you say, "The Monkey Wrench Gang.", in Albanian?

[Retrograde]

8. What's his cut? (nt)

[Envirogal]

9. Scotland regretted falling for the Trump lies

Trump made all kinds of promises as they were removing ancient dunes to make a golf course. Also promised other kinds of economic benefits and none came to fruition.

They are disgustingly people and want to degrade every beautiful thing for greed and selfishness. I hope the people are able to get the corrupt PM out.

[GenThePerservering]

10. He goes on about environmental improvement, etc.

it's going to be a glitzy, trashy resort built on the cheap and no peasants allowed unless they're working service jobs.

[ChicagoTeamster]

11. Didn't Albania overthrow their government in 2001 because the government ran a ponzi scheme and ripped off the people?

The current government should be careful about siding with con artists

[maxsolomon]

12. Sazan has like 1 beach, right next to the harbor.

It's mostly 2 mountains and cliffs that fall steeply into the sea. I don't see any wetlands that harbor flamingos.

They're fooling themselves that a major resort is possible.