Overview
- Thousands of demonstrators have gathered nightly in Tirana to call for Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation and to oppose a planned luxury resort linked in reporting to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
- The protests grew after contractors were seen preparing beaches at the Zvernec conservation area, which protesters say triggered fears of irreversible damage and local land loss.
- Environmental campaigners warn the project would affect the Vjosa-Narta lagoon and nearby Sazan island, important stopovers for migratory birds and flamingos and home to other threatened species.
- The government defends the development as a strategic tourism investment that would create jobs, while critics accuse officials and foreign investors of possible conflicts of interest and of weakening protections for reserve areas.
- The demonstrations have broadened to include opposition to a concert by Kanye West after a public meeting between the artist and Rama, and they have put the project and recent conservation law changes under intensified domestic and international scrutiny.