Albania's €1.6bn Kushner resort risks EU accession delay
Mass protests against a €1.6bn resort backed by Jared Kushner have escalated in Albania, threatening to derail the country's bid to join the EU by 2030 over environmental rule-of-law concerns.
Pop star Dua Lipa has publicly backed a six-week protest movement in Albania against a €1.6bn resort backed by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. The London-born singer voiced her support on her Service95 Book Club podcast, praising citizens for challenging the government. "I find it so inspiring to see how much people really care," Lipa said.
The proposed development foresees widespread construction on Sazan island and 10,000 villas along the Zvërnec peninsula. It represents the largest foreign investment Albania has seen since emerging from communism. Prime Minister Edi Rama has defended the project as "a gift to Europe" and a vital economic boost for one of the continent's poorest nations.
However, the investment has triggered a political crisis that could directly damage Albania's economic integration with the West. In December 2024, parliament amended stringent legislation to allow construction in environmentally sensitive areas, effectively fast-tracking the resort. "What I actually find concerning is the principle that the government could just change the law to remove the environmental protection without any kind of public consultation," Lipa said.
This legislative maneuver has drawn scrutiny from Brussels. Members of the European Parliament have warned Albania that its EU accession talks could be endangered if environmental standards are not upheld. Albania is currently a candidate country and had targeted joining the bloc by 2030.
Protesters, now on their 45th consecutive day of demonstrations in the capital Tirana, argue the project has already caused irreversible damage to vital Adriatic ecosystems. Aleksander Trajce, head of the nation's leading conservation group PPNEA, said the government was only now conducting an environmental impact study after the fact. "On [Zvërnec] the damage has already been done; works have taken place, there has been an environmental crime and people should be held accountable," Trajce said.
Despite the sustained public backlash and the risk to its EU ambitions, the Albanian government has refused to halt the project. Developers maintain they will proceed with a focus on "responsible stewardship, environmental enhancement, job creation and creating long-term value for local communities." There is no evidence that Kushner influenced the legal changes that paved the way for the resort.
