Kushner-linked Albania resort development called an 'environmental disaster'

The destruction of Albania's Vjosa-Narta ecosystem, described as one of Europe's most precious wetlands, is a stark reality, not "fake news" as claimed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, according to environmental advocates. Bulldozers are actively damaging the area, which serves as a critical refuge for over 200 bird species, including flamingos and pelicans, as well as nesting loggerhead sea turtles and the endangered Mediterranean monk seal.

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The destruction of Albania’s Vjosa-Narta ecosystem is not the fake news that Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama claims. It is reality. I know, because I was there when it started.

During a conservation conference in Tirana, experts from European BirdLife Partners visited the Vjosa delta, only to discover a massive construction site within the protected zone. They witnessed excavators damaging the beach, lorries dumping gravel, and roads being cut through dunes and pine forests, all without any visible permits or environmental clearance. This discovery prompted immediate warnings to the prime minister and environment minister about irreversible damage.

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We thought we had come to inspect an airport built in open defiance of the law in the middle of the marshes. To our horror, we walked straight into a vast new construction site in the very heart of the protected area.

Environmental groups, led by Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), have organized protests both at the site and outside the Ministry of Environment. However, demonstrators have faced aggressive manhandling and barbed wire fencing at the site. The situation gained international attention when the development was linked to a large real estate scheme reportedly backed by Jared Kushner, former advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump.

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This is bigger than birds. A protected wetland belongs to everyone. It is not an asset a government can sell to a foreign billionaire in the dark.

This incident raises fundamental questions about governance in Albania, particularly as the country seeks European Union membership. Critics argue that a protected wetland, a public asset, should not be sold to foreign investors in secrecy. The Vjosa-Narta situation is seen as a critical test of Albania's institutions, its commitment to the rule of law, and its accountability to citizens, principles central to the EU's framework. The ongoing protests in Tirana, with hundreds of thousands of participants, underscore the public's deep concern over the environmental degradation and potential corruption.

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What is happening at Vjosa-Narta is a test of something more fundamental: whether Albania’s institutions exist to serve its people, or to serve its deals.