Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, along with Qatari billionaires Ramez and Mohamad Al-Khayyat, are developing a $5.4 billion luxury resort project in Albania. The project includes facilities on Sazan Island, a former military base, and a coastal development near the protected Vjosa-Narta lagoon at Zvërnec. Ivanka Trump publicly stated that she and Kushner discovered the sites while on vacation, sailing and swimming to Sazan Island, which she described as a "beautiful 1,400-hectare private island in the middle of the Mediterranean."
This development has ignited a wave of "Pink Flamingo" protests across Albania and among its diaspora, with demonstrators expressing outrage over potential environmental damage to critical habitats for flamingos, monk seals, and sea turtles. Critics also raise concerns about the legality and transparency of the project, especially after the Albanian government, under Prime Minister Edi Rama, weakened environmental safeguards in 2024 to allow development in previously protected areas and granted "strategic investor" status to a firm linked to Affinity Partners. The European Parliament and Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos have voiced strong concerns, urging Albania to halt authorizations that jeopardize its EU accession process.
The protests, ongoing for nearly two weeks, have seen thousands chanting slogans like "Albania is not for sale" and "Ivanka, go home." The Special Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) launched an investigation into alleged fraudulent property title transfers, including a temporary freeze on bank accounts of Albania Land Development and a firm owned by the Qatari investors. While Prime Minister Rama defends the project as essential for high-end tourism and denies a finalized plan or environmental assessment, opponents view it as a symbol of broader governance issues and a "hybrid war" against his administration. Construction work on the project has been paused amid the controversy.
