Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama.Image: keystone
June 17, 2026, 04:41June 17, 2026, 04:41
Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama believes the protests in his country against a planned luxury holiday resort in a protected area of the Adriatic coast are misguided. The demonstrators were based on false information, said the head of government of the German Press Agency dpa in Berlin.
“The facts say that there is no deal with the island of Sazan, while all the media is full of the falsehood that there is a deal and that the Kushners get the island and Albania sells the island,” Rama said. “It was never about a sale.”
Rama: Albania platform for anger over Trump
His government is still negotiating a joint venture to build the first luxury resort in Albania on the island. Rama confirmed that US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was among the group of possible investors. “Albania has become a platform for anti-Trump anger around the world,” he said.
There have been protests against the construction plans for weeks in the Balkan country that is aspiring to join the EU. Thousands also took to the streets in the capital Tirana and there were clashes with the police. A small peninsula near the town of Zvernec is also to be developed as a private project, the dunes of which shield the Narta lagoon from the Mediterranean. The area is protected as a refuge for many bird and animal species.
Construction fences are gone again
However, initial earthworks for exploration were abandoned and construction fences were removed. «There is no stopping the preparatory work due to a decision. But there is a moment of pause because it is impossible to continue under this pressure and brutality,” Rama said.
The Prime Minister emphasized that there have not yet been any building applications for either Sazan or Zvernec. Of course there will be environmental assessments. According to his government, moderate and ecologically sensitive construction can be carried out in both areas.
EU nature conservation rules should apply
Environmentalists criticize that the law on protected areas was changed in 2024. The government in Tirana calls this a clarification of the protection status. However, the EU spoke of a deterioration in protection in its country reports.
Rama, on the other hand, says: “There is no chance that a candidate country that is negotiating early membership with the European Union will carry out a project of any size without an environmental impact assessment in full compliance with the EU criteria.” (sda/dpa)