Overview
- Protests this week have drawn thousands nightly to Tirana and Zvernec after videos showed excavators and fenced beaches in the Vjosa‑Narta area, with clashes against private security and police leading to injuries, detentions and the removal of a local police chief.
- Albania’s Special Anti‑Corruption Prosecutor (SPAK) has opened a formal inquiry into the project’s land transfers and recent changes to the area’s protection status, the office confirmed to reporters.
- The development is tied in reporting to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump and rests on an investor‑strategic designation awarded in late 2024 to Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC that speeds administrative approvals.
- Environmental groups and local activists say heavy machinery has damaged dunes, removed trees and blocked lagoon connections in protected wetlands that host flamingos, seals and turtle nesting sites.
- Key ownership and financing links remain opaque despite named Qatari partners and government backing, and the dispute raises wider questions about tourism-driven land policy, state transparency and possible legal fallout similar to a past Kushner-linked project in the region.