TIRANA — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama confirmed the government will proceed with a luxury development project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. This decision comes despite daily protests outside the Prime Minister's office in Tirana and an ongoing anti-corruption investigation by Albania's anti-corruption agency.
Since late May 2026, heavy machinery has entered the planned development area to open access routes, dig into sand, clear land among pine trees, and install fencing. Work has commenced to clear land inside a nature reserve in Albania for the planned development. Additionally, an investment firm linked to Kushner has received special investor status from Albanian authorities.
The planned development will include hotels, apartments, villas, and a marina for yachts. A formal environmental impact assessment for the project has not yet begun. The luxury project will feature a coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area, a designated wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort on the uninhabited island of Sazan, formerly a communist-era military base.
The Albanian government stated the project aims to help the nation enter the high-end tourism market and supports its push for European Union membership. The government maintains the land designated for the project is privately owned, though rival claims over the privatization of the land have emerged.
Rama addressed the lack of an environmental impact assessment, stating, "When it comes to the environment, there is no project yet, there is no environmental impact assessment yet, because this is still a planning process." He added, "We have fantastic documentation of how the wildlife in Albania came back thanks to the 10 years moratorium of hunting." On public discourse, he said, "There is a lot of manipulation. There is a lot of half-truths that become bigger and bigger lies by the hour." Rama clarified he was not accusing individual protesters of acting as foreign agents. Rama also noted Kushner told him, "Your country's absolutely stunning, and we would like to look for a chance to invest."
No independent assessment of Edi Rama’s claims was available.