Albania suspends Kushner resort after EU environmental warning
The European Union has warned Albania that a luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump could violate EU environmental law and jeopardize the country’s accession process. In response, Brussels urged Albanian authorities to ensure full compliance with environmental standards as negotiations progress, stressing that any breach could affect the closure of key accession chapters.
The project, developed through Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners, envisions up to 10,000 hotel rooms across two sensitive coastal sites. These include the uninhabited island of Sazan and the protected Vjosa-Narta coastal ecosystem near Vlora. Environmental groups warn that the area hosts flamingos, Mediterranean monk seals, over 200 migratory bird species, and sea turtles that nest along the shoreline. Critics also point to the absence of a completed environmental impact assessment, raising concerns about compliance with EU nature protection rules.
Albanian authorities have now suspended construction while an environmental review is carried out. The move follows mounting domestic pressure, including large-scale protests in Tirana where demonstrators rejected the project and demanded stronger protection of public land. Anti-corruption investigators have also opened inquiries into land acquisitions linked to the development, while a court has frozen assets tied to local partners involved in the project. Despite the suspension, political divisions persist, with the prime minister backing the investment as a potential driver of economic transformation.
The dispute comes at a sensitive moment for Albania’s EU ambitions, with the country viewed as a leading candidate for membership later in the decade. EU officials have framed the Vjosa-Narta area as a test case for Albania’s ability to align with European environmental directives, including protected habitat rules that underpin future integration into the Natura 2000 network. The standoff now places Albania between economic development plans tied to high-profile foreign investors and the strict regulatory requirements needed to advance toward EU accession.
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