Tivat (Montenegro) (AFP) – Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama downplayed concerns Friday raised by protesters opposed to a planned tourism complex linked to US President Donald Trump’s family, saying there was “no reason to worry”. For nearly a week, protests have been growing in Albania against a luxury resort project led by Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner. The project was unveiled more than two years ago, but many of the details remain unclear.
Protesters say the estimated $1.2-billion project will harm the environment, with plans for luxury hotels in the protected area of Vjosa-Narta, on the southern Adriatic coast. “There is no yet project approved…First, we need to have the project, then to see the project, then to discuss the project,” Rama told reporters in Montenegro, where he is attending a European Union summit with Balkan leaders. “We cannot discuss something that does not exist,” he said when asked about the protests, calling on Western media to be “much more careful” in their reporting. “There is no reason to worry as far as there is no project,” he said.
However, he said “top” world experts were involved in the plan, adding that the aim was “to make something unique”. According to the plan, developers also hope to transform the uninhabited island of Sazan — once a secret communist military base — into a glitzy tourist destination. The plan has been shrouded in uncertainty, particularly regarding the acquisition of property titles for the land on which some hotels would be built. So far, no buildings have been constructed.
But the project has been referenced in images posted on Kushner’s Instagram account, visits by Ivanka Trump to Albania with investors early this year, and in her recent statements on a podcast praising the area. In recent days, videos emerged showing preparatory work on the coast and bulldozers on the beach. The images went viral, intensifying opposition to the plan.
© 2024 AFP
