3 min readNew DelhiJun 28, 2026 03:05 PM IST
For almost a month now, thousands of Albanians have flooded the streets of its capital Tirana, demanding the cancellation of a $1.6-billion luxury project planned for its Adriatic coast. The protests, being called the “Flamingo Revolution”, began over environmental concerns but now have turned into anti-corruption rallies asking for the resignation of Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama.
One of the major reasons for this anger is that the project includes constructions on Sazan island and Vjosa-Narta, a wetland home for flamingos, seals and nesting sites for sea turtles, creating concern over the government’s negligence towards environmental degradation.
The Jared Kushner angle in Albania protests
The protests began with opposition to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who proposed the luxury resort plan with of 800 guest rooms and suites, luxury villas, a golf course, a casino, a water park, and townhouses and apartments, in ecologically sensitive zones.
In an interview with American Podcaster David Senra, Ivanka Trump described Sazan island as an uninhabited patch of land. “We were on a friend’s boat, and we stopped for a swim. Effectively, that’s how we found it,” she said while speaking about the development plan linked to Atlantic Incubation Partners, a firm related to her husband Kushner’s Affinity Partners fund.
According to NPR, in 2024, the Albanian government brought in a new law that stripped away Albania’s ecosystem protection, allowing construction on land considered “protected” under EU’s “Natura 2000”.
Protesters claim no consultation was held before approving the Kushner project.
“There was nobody who was informed. Just one day, we saw bulldozers entering outside, opening up roads, cutting trees, destroying the dunes, and so on. So the public knew nothing,” CBS News quoted Aleksandr Trajce, executive director of the country’s leading conservation group, Protection and Preservation of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), as saying.
Widening scope of protests
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Since late May, thousands of people have been taking to the streets every evening, in the biggest civil society protest movement Albania has seen in 30 years, since the fall of communism in the country. The flamingo has become the symbol of the movement, with people carrying its cutouts in front of the Prime Minister Office, asking PM Rama to resign. Protesters allege the government is prioritising the interests of oligarchs over local communities.
The protests are gaining international attention. On June 17, the European Parliament pressed Albania to stop the construction in protected areas.
The government, however, has dug in its heels. Prime Minister Rama, who has been leading the country since 2013, has insisted that the project is an economic necessity. A luxury project can create revenue, employment and make Albania a premier Mediterranean travel destination, is the argument. Rama has also claimed that foreign actors like Iran are behind the protests, because Kushner is involved with it.
This is not the first time Kushner’s projects has faced ire from locals, though. In late 2025, a controversial $500 million dollar project was cancelled in Serbia as it sparked massive protests and anger from local citizens.
Akshita Chauhan is an intern with The Indian Express