Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama listens to a question during an interview with The Associated Press in Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hameraldi Agolli)<\/small><\/p>\n
2026-06-09T16:18:04Z<\/p>\n
TIRANA, Albania (AP) \u2014 Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is vowing to press ahead with a luxury development<\/a><\/span> linked to U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a><\/span> \u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner<\/a><\/span>, despite a surge in protests against it there.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Rama dismissed environmental objections as the result of misinformation and said the development was turning Albania<\/a><\/span> from a country once ignored by investors into one \u201cwhere the big capital wants to come and the big investors want to come.\u201d<\/p>\n The government says the development would be transformational for the former communist nation as it seeks to enter the high-end tourism market and pushes for European Union membership.<\/p>\n But thousands of demonstrators have joined daily protests<\/a><\/span> outside Rama\u2019s office in the capital, Tirana \u2014 including on Tuesday \u2014 against the planned project that includes hotels, apartments, villas and a marina for yachts.<\/p>\n The prime minister said a formal environmental impact assessment has not started, even though work has begun to clear land inside a nature reserve.<\/p>\n Asked if he might step back from the project, Rama refused, adding, \u201cStep back from what?\u201d<\/p>\n Albania\u2019s anti-corruption agency has opened an investigation related to the project. The government says the land is privately owned, but rival claims over its privatization have emerged.<\/p>\n Rama said Kushner\u2019s proposal began by chance. He recalled a dinner in southern Albania with Kushner, his wife, Ivanka Trump<\/a><\/span>, and friends who had stopped in the port of Durres to refuel their boat on the way to Montenegro.<\/p>\n Months later, Kushner approached him at a gathering of world leaders and business executives in Davos, Switzerland, and expressed interest in investing in Albania, Rama said.<\/p>\n \u201cYour country\u2019s absolutely stunning, and we would like to look for a chance to invest,\u201d Rama recalled Kushner telling him.<\/p>\n An investment firm linked to Kushner has been granted special investor status by Albanian authorities.<\/p>\n The luxury project has two components: a coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area, which is a wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort on the nearby uninhabited island of Sazan, a communist-era military base.<\/p>\n\u2018Your country\u2019s absolutely stunning\u2019<\/h2>\n