Why Are Albanians Calling for Revolution? | On the Ground

Sep 10, 2026 | Thousands of protesters are flooding the streets of Tirana in the biggest unrest Albania has seen since the collapse of communism.

It began as the “flamingo revolution”, sparked by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s plans for a luxury mega-resort on a public nature reserve island. But the protests have since grown into a wider challenge to Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government, which is accused of selling off Albania’s coastline to the elites.

Matthew Cassel travels to Albania to see how an environmental fight over one island has escalated into a political battle over the country’s future.

The Last Days of Europe’s Most Paranoid Communist State | 60 Minutes Australia

Aug 31, 2026 | For nearly half a century, Albania operated as Europe's most isolated, secretive, and paranoid communist state under the iron-fisted rule of Marxist-Leninist leaders.

In 1990, just before the regime collapsed, 60 Minutes reporter Jennifer Byrne gained rare access to "The Land Time Forgot," exploring a bizarre society where foreign debt and contraceptives were banned, and the average citizen earned just sixty dollars a month.

The Ivanka Trump, Kanye West Albania Situation Is Crazy

July 27, 2026 | For more than a decade, Albanian Prime Minster Edi Rama has been viewed as the liberal, cosmopolitan face of a rapidly changing Albania.

The reality behind this façade, however, is much different, and recent events highlighted by both Ivanka Trump and Kanye West are exposing the true nature of one of Europe's favorite politicians.

Furious World Leaders Ban Ivanka and Send Warning

Jun 23, 2026 | MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas and Katie Phang report on European leaders banning the Ivanka and Jared Kushner Island in Albania if Albania intends to continue pursuing its path to join the European Union.

A lLok at the Albanian Island Where a Kushner-Trump Resort Plan Has Sparked Protests

Jun 11, 2026 | Albania's Sazan Island is a jewel in the Adriatic Sea. The former Cold War-era base is now in a luscious nature preserve and an inviting prospect for real estate developers. Chief among them is Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. Their plans are running headlong into Albanians who want to keep what's theirs. Special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky and producer Katia Patin report.

Kushner’s Sazan Plan: Barefoot Self-discovery or Modern Land Grab?| Soumaya Ghannoushi | MEE Opinion

Jun 9, 2026 | Soumaya Ghannoushi, a writer and expert in Middle East politics, argues that Jared Kushner's multi-billion-dollar plan to build a luxury resort on Sazan Island exposes a significant disconnect between elite privilege and the real-world implications of sovereignty.

Ghannoushi points out that what Ivanka Trump describes as an innocent "barefoot discovery" of an untouched "mysterious Mediterranean paradise" is actually a calculated venture supported by foreign sovereign wealth funds and facilitated by local authorities that are compliant with these plans.

She argues that Kushner is attempting to reduce sovereign geography to merely a picturesque backdrop, drawing a troubling parallel to his controversial real estate ambitions regarding the "waterfront potential of Gaza" during Israel’s genocidal war on the besieged strip.


This is a fantastic synopsis. Bravo! — Mark

Ivanka Trump's Sazan Island Dream Project Torpedoed? Albania Protests Kushner–Rama Deal

Jun 7, 2026 | A major luxury development linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner is facing growing backlash in Albania, where thousands of protesters have taken to the streets against the proposed $1.4 billion Sazan Island project.

Demonstrators have targeted the development, backed by Kushner's Affinity Partners, with some invoking Jeffrey Epstein as they criticize the plan.

The controversy has intensified scrutiny of the high-profile project and fuelled debate over its political, environmental and economic impact on the Balkan nation.


It sounds to me as if the Albanian government is as corrupt as Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and the rest of the mob! I hope and trust that Albanians will be successful in stopping this crazy project. The Trumps have kitsched up just about everything they have ever touched—just look at that Oval Office for proof!—so don’t let them kitsch up Albania’s beautiful coastline now, as well. — © Mark Alexander

The Trumps are eco-saboteurs. They should be STOPPED. You can help stop them and help protect Sazan Island from the Trump family by signing this petition: Sign it here.

Jared Kushner's Albania Resort Project Triggers Mass Protests | Vantage on Firstpost

Jun 3, 2026 | Thousands of Albanians are protesting a luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The project involves 10,000 hotel rooms across 2.5 square kilometres of protected coastal land on Sazan Island and the Vjosa-Narta nature reserve. Albania’s powerful anti-corruption body has opened a formal investigation into how the land was acquired. Private security guards were filmed dragging a protester along a cliff. Ivanka Trump called Sazan a private island they discovered. Hem Kaaur Saroya breaks down what the project involves and why the pattern keeps repeating.

Kushner-linked Resort Plan Sparks Protests in Albania | DW News

Jun 4, 2026 | A multi-billion-euro resort project on Albania’s Adriatic coast - linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump - is facing mounting protests. The development would turn a protected coastal area into a luxury tourism destination, but critics warn it could irreversibly damage a key wildlife habitat and allege corruption in the approval process. The government says the project will bring investment and jobs. But with tensions rising and clashes reported, the controversy is putting Albania’s development model and political leadership under scrutiny.

Protests in Albania Grow over Jared Kushner-backed Luxury Resort

THE GUARDIAN: Conservation groups say work has begun in protected coastal area, while prime minister insists project will bring jobs and investment

This screenshot is from this Guardian article. | Protesters clash with police during third day of unrest in Albania. Photograph: Armando Babani/Getty Images
Protests in Albania over a proposed luxury resort backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are set to intensify after opponents rejected an offer from the country’s prime minister “to discuss solutions”.

Thousands took to the streets of Tirana for a third straight day on Wednesday, some of them brandishing inflatable flamingos in a nod to feared environmental damage, amid mounting calls for the project to be blocked.

Protests are also planned for the south of the country, where groundwork on the $1.6bn (£1.19bn) complex recently began in an area long seen as one of the Mediterranean’s most environmentally sensitive.

“From start to finish there has been a total lack of transparency,” said Aleksandr Trajce, executive director of the country’s leading conservation group, the Protection and Preservation of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA). “We have seen no public consultation or public documentation regarding permits, and so now what we are saying is, if they remove the bulldozers, remove the fence and restore the habitats to what they were, then we can start talking.” » | Helena Smith in Athens | Thursday, June 4, 2026

The Kushners, just like the rest of the Trump menagerie, all have several characteristics in common: they are all corrupt; they are all ‘on-the-make; they all see dollar-signs in everything they do and undertake; and none of them can be trusted to do anything for the good of the community or wider society. Whatever they think of doing, if it doesn’t enrich them or benefit them in some way, they don’t touch the project. The project will be abandoned. It seems to me that the Albanians have got the measure of the Kushners. I should like to add the following: I would wager that there must be people at the top of Albanian society poised to enrich themselves from this. ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY! — © Mark Alexander