The Flamingo Revolution is also directed against Prime Minister Rama’s government.Image: Keystone
June 16, 2026, 10:45June 16, 2026, 10:45
If you think about it, Albania has twelve islands. Except for Sazan and Kunë, none are larger than one square kilometer – and depending on the water level, Kunë even has a land connection.
So if you don’t take it too seriously, Albania only has one island: Sazan, now also known as Kushner Island – or perhaps even worse: Trump Island.
The stumbling block: the island of Sazan opposite Zvernec.Image: Screenshot Google
Sazan is located at the strategically important entrance to the Adriatic.Image: Screenshot Google
The 5.7 square kilometer island is located off Zvernec. Until 1943, Benito Mussolini controlled access to the Adriatic from here with a naval base. After the Second World War, dictator Enver Hoxha also used it as a military base.
Abandoned residential buildings on Sazan. Under Hoxha there was even a hospital and a school on Sazan.Image: Shutterstock
In 2024 it became known that Jared Kushner, son-in-law of Donald Trump, and his wife Ivanka were there want to build a luxury resort with hotels, villas, apartments and a marina. Cost: 1.4 billion euros. The company Atlantic Incubation Partners is planned as the developer. It is in turn supported by Kushner’s Affinity Partners Fund.
Sazan is currently uninhabited, but is crossed by 16 kilometers long underground passagescrumbling houses and dozens of bunkers. Signs warn of old mines and unexploded grenades. Tourists can visit the island in groups. Otherwise it belongs to the animals – it is located in the middle of an important marine nature reserve.
The port of Sazan, which has previously been used primarily for military purposes.Image: Shutterstock
Another luxurious holiday complex is being built on the mainland just opposite Sazan, also in the nature reserve. Investors want it there from Qatar build for four billion euros – or even the Kushners? The information on this is as contradictory as it is opaque. The only thing that is clear is that the heavy machinery is already on site. And there is a metal fence that blocks locals’ access to the sea. Residents speak of being forcibly evicted from their properties. The investment volume here? Depending on the source, up to over four billion euros.
Because such staggering sums are involved, Atlantic Incubation Partners has been granted “Strategic Investor” status by the government. This means that bureaucratic hurdles can be overcome more quickly and investors receive support in parliament. They need this because the population is seething. The deals, the numbers and the investors are too opaque. The population fears that the government is selling off the slices of the Albanian coast to foreign investors – and that important nature reserves are destroyed.
These fears are not unfounded. Two days before the end of 2024, shortly after Donald Trump’s election victory against Kamala Harris and before his inauguration, Jared Kushner received the final building permit from the Albanian government. A nice deal for Trump’s son-in-law. It will be remembered longer than a Rolex on your desk. At the end of 2025, Albanian media reported that Sazan had been sold to investors for 1.4 billion euros. Also the British one Guardian headlines like this – Prime Minister Rama denies the sale. Sazan is and will remain public land, he explained just a few days ago. A final deal is still being worked onbut the island is not for sale.
The port of Sazan.Image: Shutterstock
Back to the mainland and to the nature reserve of the Narta Lagoon. As always, when a lot of money is involved, everyone wants a piece of the pie. This is no different in Albania. But things are a little more complicated here. The ownership of many land areas is disputed. This was after the communists confiscated various private properties after the Second World War. Many families are still fighting to get them back today. Also on the Adriatic coast and in the Zvernec region, where the heavy machinery is located. The government claims the area is private property. But in whose possession?
The Narta Lagoon with Sazan in the background.Image: Wikimedia
In May there were demonstrations on the beach in Zvernec. The fighting scenes between the angry population and security guards, who put up barbed wirego viral. Now the demonstrations are spreading to the capital Tirana.
Security guards drag a demonstrator across the beach. Protesters are kept away from the sea with security fences.Image: Screenshot X
Over 40 groups are calling for the projects to be paused and the questions to be clarified. Signs saying “Ivanka go home” are carried through the streets. Or with “Albania is not for sale!”, “Sazar will not be Trump’s next Epstein Island!”.
Because flamingos nest in both areas, the animal has become a trademark of the demonstrations, which have long been directed against the government. Thousands are now taking to the streets.
Demonstration of the Flamingo Movement in Tirana on June 9th. What started small has become a mass movement.Image: Keystone
That has an effect. The economically developing country, the Tiger of the Balkans, is committed to the rule of law. The Special Prosecutor’s Office for Anti-Corruption has started investigations. She wants to clarify how the public tender system could be circumvented. There is also an examination of the origin of the funds.
Undeveloped dream beach near Zvernec – and nature reserve. The mega resort is to be built here for several billion euros.Image: Keystone
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Rama is sticking to both projects: “It’s about investments in the region of five billion euros,” he says Reuters. And compared to that “Guardian”: “Our country cannot afford to let a gift like Sazan go to waste.” Not only can he take care of environmental protection, but he also has to think about pension funds, schools and health benefits. The resorts are expected to create 1,000 jobs – and attract money from wealthy foreigners.
The opponents of the construction projects are not only fighting with louder means. In order to stir up fear, the rumor is spread that Palestinians are to be settled here. Social media is full of fake videos with anti-Israel undertones. A crude confusion of nature conservation, patriotism and fake news is fueling the mood.
This is how Jared Kushner imagines the holiday paradise in Zvernec.Image: Studio Genesis
“When someone announces news, everyone gets scared,” Kushner once said about the project. Later he published almost brutal project sketches on X, adding further fuel to the fire.
It is not the first time that Jared Kushner wants to build in the Balkans. A Trump Tower should have been built in Belgrade. The bombed-out army general staff building stood in the way. It is listed in the Central Register of Immovable Cultural Heritage of Serbia and is considered a memorial to the NATO bombings in 1999.
In 2025, the government removed the entry, paving the way for the luxurious building. However, the people of Belgrade were annoyed by this and there were demonstrations – and an investigation.
As a result, the Serbian Minister of Culture and the director of the Central Register of Immovable Cultural Heritage were arrested and later convicted of forgery. The Trump Tower Belgrade is now history – and Kushner can concentrate on his projects in Albania. The protests there will continue. And the investigation too.