In 2024, Jared Kushner, a real estate developer and former Trump administration official, announced that his private equity firm, Affinity Partners, intended to build a large luxury resort on Albania’s Sazan Island and along the Zvernec coastline near Vlora, with space for up to 10,000 hotel rooms.
He visited the location with Ivanka Trump in January 2026. In April, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama confirmed ongoing discussions about the project.
The development is planned in a previously protected natural area housing flamingos, over 200 migratory bird species, Mediterranean monk seals, and nesting sea turtles. However, Albania’s 2024 legal changes allowed tourism in certain protected areas.
On Wednesday, Rama told CNN International that the project is still in the environmental assessment phase and insisted that development must coexist with nature instead of harming it.
In late May, controversy arose when parts of the site were fenced with barbed wire, leading to protests, clashes with security, arrests, and the jailing of a security guard for assault and unlawful detention of a protester.
Protests spread to Tirana, with the flamingo becoming a symbol of the movement, featuring in social media posts under the slogan “the flamingo revolution.”
A protester named Suzi, who works in tourism and requested anonymity over fear of retribution, stated, “We are protesting because we risk losing our land to individuals who are only interested in their gain, not in aiding Albanians.”
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