The Flamingo Revolution: Foreign Capital and the Battle for Albania’s Coast

For more than three weeks Albania has been witnessing some of the largest environmental and anti-government protests in recent years.

The Investor and the Political Context

At the centre of the controversy stands a proposed luxury resort backed by Affinity Partners, the investment fund founded by Jared Kushner. The project includes high-end hotels, villas, and marina facilities on Sazan Island — once an Albanian military base that served as a Soviet submarine facility during the Cold War, located at one of the most strategically sensitive points of the Albanian coastline.

Jared Kushner is not an ordinary investor. As the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump and a figure with close ties to both American and Israeli political circles, his involvement has transformed what might otherwise have remained a local planning dispute into a matter of national political significance.

For many Albanians, the issue is no longer simply environmental. It is about sovereignty and the growing perception that some of the country’s most valuable assets are being transferred into foreign hands with limited public scrutiny.

This perception has been strengthened by the government’s handling of the project. Critics argue that decisions affecting strategic national territory have been pushed forward with insufficient transparency, while local concerns have been treated as obstacles rather than legitimate political questions.

Rama’s Alignment with Israel

Over recent years, Prime Minister Edi Rama has cultivated........

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