Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama remains committed to moving forward with a high-end tourism project tied to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, even as widespread demonstrations continue to grow against the proposal.
During a Tuesday conversation with The Associated Press, Rama brushed off environmental concerns as stemming from false information and stated the project was transforming Albania from a nation previously overlooked by investors into one “where the big capital wants to come and the big investors want to come.”
Officials say the development would revolutionize the former communist country as it attempts to break into luxury tourism while pursuing European Union membership.
However, thousands of protesters have gathered each day outside Rama’s office in Tirana, the capital city, opposing the proposed project that would feature hotels, residential units, luxury homes and a yacht marina.
The prime minister acknowledged that an official environmental impact study has yet to begin, despite ongoing land clearing activities within a protected nature area.
When questioned about potentially abandoning the project, Rama declined, responding, “Step back from what?”
The nation’s anti-corruption watchdog has launched a probe connected to the development. While the government maintains the property is privately held, competing ownership claims regarding its privatization have surfaced.
Rama explained that Kushner’s interest originated unexpectedly. He described a meal in southern Albania with Kushner, his spouse Ivanka Trump, and companions who had docked in Durres port to refuel their vessel while traveling to Montenegro.
Several months afterward, Kushner contacted him during a world leaders and business executives meeting in Davos, Switzerland, expressing investment interest in Albania, according to Rama.
“Your country’s absolutely stunning, and we would like to look for a chance to invest,” Rama remembered Kushner saying to him.
Albanian officials have awarded special investor designation to an investment company connected to Kushner.
The upscale development encompasses two sections: a waterfront project in the Narta Lagoon region, which serves as a wildlife sanctuary, and a smaller vacation resort on the nearby unpopulated Sazan island, formerly a communist military installation.
Land clearing operations have already commenced within a nature preserve utilized by migrating birds, leading environmental organizations to caution about destroying long-protected ecosystems. Albania possesses 450 kilometers (280 miles) of coastline that stayed mostly undeveloped throughout decades of strict communist governance.
Rama stated that an official environmental impact evaluation has not commenced because the development blueprint remains incomplete. He noted that global architects and environmental experts continue working on the proposal.
“When it comes to the environment, there is no project yet, there is no environmental impact assessment yet, because this is still a planning process,” he stated.
He contended that Albania maintains an excellent conservation track record, highlighting prohibitions on hunting and timber harvesting that he claimed helped flamingo numbers rebound.
“We have fantastic documentation of how the wildlife in Albania came back thanks to the 10 years moratorium of hunting,” Rama stated.
Beginning in late May, construction equipment and heavy machinery have accessed the proposed development site, creating entry paths, excavating sand, removing vegetation among pine forests and erecting barriers.
The prime minister indicated that some opposition to the project was being magnified by external meddling, referencing what he characterized as an ongoing Iranian cyber offensive against Albania.
Albania has consistently blamed Iran for supporting hackers who target the nation’s digital systems, following Albania’s decision to provide refuge to members of an Iranian opposition organization. Tehran has rejected these claims.
“There is a lot of manipulation. There is a lot of half-truths that become bigger and bigger lies by the hour,” he stated.
He stressed that he was not suggesting individual demonstrators were operating as foreign operatives.
