Published on 6/20/2026
For the twentieth day in a row, thousands of Albanians continue to demonstrate against a tourist resort project said to be linked to the family of US President Donald Trump.
Yesterday evening, Friday, thousands of citizens gathered in a demonstration – in Skanderbeg Square in the capital, Tirana – organized under the slogan “Albania is not for sale,” where they denounced what they said was the sale of one of the beaches of Zvernik as part of a tourism project, said to be linked to the daughter of the US President, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner.
The protesters demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, as they chanted slogans in the demonstration that headed to the Prime Minister’s Office, including “Stop the project,” “Go, Rama,” “Rama is not wanted,” and “Albania is not for sale.”
Environmental activist Denisa Casa considered that the protests achieved “some results,” the most important of which is the suspension of the construction process, which the European Parliament demanded.
CASA told Agence France-Presse: “The suspension in this case means stopping all new building and construction work in protected areas, and in the meantime no new development licenses are being granted.”
Albanian media recently reported that the Special (Exceptional) Prosecution had opened an investigation into the aforementioned project.
The police announced – before the start of Friday’s demonstration – that 27 people had been charged with committing “acts that undermine public order and security,” and had directed participants during a previous night march to take different routes than those that had been approved.
This followed similar police action earlier this week, where 35 people were charged for blocking a highway during protests.
Since late May, demonstrators have come out every evening to object to the project, which includes building a luxury hotel, which is planned to be built on the land of a nature reserve.
In previous statements to CNN, Prime Minister Edi Rama denied allegations that the Zvernik project belongs to the Trump family, and its cost is estimated at about $4 billion.
It is noteworthy that the police used water cannons to disperse the protesters in the first days of the demonstrations, which began on May 30 with the participation of thousands of people.
The wave of demonstrations began after a barbed wire fence appeared around a quiet beach in the coastal area of Zvernik, about 100 kilometers southwest of the capital, Tirana.
