EditFrom protected park to Trump-linked playground: how Albania is privatising its coastline
The idea that every untouched landscape is merely “unused real estate” is one of the most dangerous notions of modern capitalism, often disguised as “development”
There is something deeply revealing in the argument repeated every time another protected area in Albania is handed over to luxury investors: “Albanians never even went there anyway.”
Some made this claim about Sazan Island when the Albanian government granted preliminary approval for Jared Kushner – Donald Trump’s son-in-law – to transform the area into a luxury resort. Others now say it about the wetlands and protected ecosystems surrounding Narta Lagoon and Divjakë-Karavasta National Park.
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As if the only value of nature lies in whether humans consume it. This mentality is precisely how we are destroying the planet.
A forest does not need to become a resort to justify its existence. A lagoon does not need beach bars and villas to matter. An island does not need to be “activated” by billionaires to be valuable. Some places should exist simply because they are ecosystems, habitats, migration corridors, and living environments for species already on the edge of extinction.
The idea that every untouched landscape is merely “unused real estate” is one of the most dangerous notions of modern capitalism, often disguised as “development.”
Kushner’s threat to endangered species
Karaburun-Sazan Marine National Park is not empty land waiting for profitable civilisation to arrive. It is one of the Mediterranean’s most sensitive marine ecosystems.
Environmental organisations have warned that the proposed luxury resort project linked to Kushner threatens habitats of endangered species, including the Mediterranean monk seal, along with protected marine ecosystems.
🇦🇱 ALBANIA MARCHES AGAINST KUSHNER-TRUMP RESORT
Thousands of Albanians took to the streets in a peaceful demonstration opposing the $1.4 billion luxury resort development linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner on the country's southern coast.
Kushner and Ivanka Trump's… pic.twitter.com/pcbb9TjXmm
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) May 31, 2026
Likewise, the broader Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape and the ecosystems connected to Divjakë-Karavasta National Park are far more than scenic coastlines. They form part of one of Europe’s most important migratory bird corridors and are home to over 70 endangered species and more than 200 bird species. Divjakë-Karavasta also contains the last remaining intact delta system in the Mediterranean.
Yet bulldozers are moving in – not transparently, not democratically, and, according to environmental organisations, not even legally.
Reports and statements from conservation groups describe ongoing construction activity, the destruction of dunes and forests, and interventions within protected areas that allegedly occur without proper environmental impact assessments, public consultation, or transparent permitting procedures.
This should alarm anyone who still believes EU accession is fundamentally about the rule of law, environmental standards, and democratic accountability.
At a time when Albania is being praised as only the second EU candidate country (after Montenegro) to fulfil the interim benchmarks, an uncomfortable question arises: how is Albania still advancing toward EU membership while protected areas are being weakened for elite investment projects?
Similar “eco-resorts” across the region
Similar projects have appeared elsewhere in the region. For instance, Ulcinj Salina in Montenegro was previously privatised and slated for development into an “eco-resort” with a marina and golf course, threatening vital bird habitats along a major migratory route.
The Centre for Protection and Research of Birds of Montenegro (CZIP) advocated strongly for habitat protection and exposed issues such as illegal mortgages. Their campaign gained national and regional attention. Ultimately, their efforts succeeded, and protection of the site became a closing benchmark for Montenegro’s EU accession process.
Elsewhere, one of Kushner’s most controversial Balkan projects involved luxury redevelopment in Belgrade on the site of the former Yugoslav army headquarters, bombed during the NATO intervention. That project was ultimately rolled back following public protests, institutional scrutiny, and allegations of forged documentation. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić lamented that Serbia would be “left with a ruined building” instead of a multimillion-euro investment.
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The Albanian case is especially disturbing
That contrast makes the Albanian situation even more troubling. In Serbia, the controversy centred on redeveloping a politically and historically contested urban ruin. In Albania, there is no abandoned concrete shell in the middle of a capital city, no decaying military structure, and no derelict site serving “nothing.”
Instead, what is being opened to luxury development are some of the country’s most fragile and living ecosystems – habitats that already serve a purpose far greater than profit. They sustain biodiversity, shelter endangered species, regulate ecosystems, and belong to the public and future generations.
Albania: Protests in Zvërnec against luxury resort linked to Jared Kushner
Protests continue in Zvërnec, Albania, against a luxury resort linked to Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
Protesters claim that private security guards "kidnapped" a protester and… pic.twitter.com/zOhahtcvRH
— brane mijatovic (@brane_mija64426) May 31, 2026
Brussels’ response
The European Commission, members of the European Parliament, and environmental organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about Albania’s environmental governance and changes to protected-area legislation.
Declaring the Vjosa National Park a protected area resulted from sustained engagement by EU actors with the Albanian government and civil society. This is why civil society and environmental groups argue that recent amendments allowing luxury construction in protected areas contradict EU nature protection standards and the spirit of the Natura 2000 framework — the EU’s flagship network for protecting endangered species and vulnerable habitats.
Yet the European response remains strikingly cautious. In May 2026, the European Commission stated that it was “closely monitoring” developments in the Pishë Poro-Narta landscape and reiterated that, to close Chapter 27 on environment and climate, Albania must demonstrate the capacity to manage future Natura 2000 areas and prevent the degradation of habitats and species.
The statement implicitly recognises Pishë Poro-Narta as a test case for Albania’s environmental commitments under the accession process. Despite growing alarm from environmental organisations and ongoing reports of interventions in protected areas, Brussels’ political response has been limited to monitoring and procedural concern. There have been no serious consequences for the accession process and no major diplomatic confrontation.
Albania thus appears trapped in a familiar Balkan paradox: European standards are rigorously invoked in rhetoric, while exceptions are tolerated when political interests and strategic investors are involved.
Not for ordinary Albanians
This brings us to another uncomfortable truth hidden beneath the language of “development.” Development for whom?
When governments celebrate billion-euro luxury investments, the public is expected to applaud automatically. But ordinary Albanians have the right to ask whether these projects are even meant for them. Who will be able to afford these resorts? Who will access these beaches? Who benefits when public and protected landscapes are transformed into enclaves for global elites?
Albania is already becoming unaffordable for many of its own citizens during the summer months. Entire coastal areas increasingly cater to foreign investors, luxury tourism, and speculative real estate markets. What was once shared natural space risks becoming privatised scenery for multimillionaires.
This is not simply an environmental issue. It is also a social and democratic one. No luxury resort can replace a lost ecosystem.
The original article by EUalive’s partner Albanian Daily News can be found here.
Caption: The Sazan Island when the Albanian government granted preliminary approval for Jared Kushner – Donald Trump’s son-in-law – to transform the area into a luxury resort.[Albanian Daily News]
Updated: June 1, 2026 - 07:40
