Democracy helped stall Trump resort plans in Albania

Democracy in – Albania has been roiled by protests over a luxury resort project tied to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, with critics alleging the government may have improperly ignored migratory bird routes. The unrest, dubbed the “Flamingo Revolution,” has unfolded in a cou

For days. protesters in Albania have poured into the streets with one message—don’t let a Trump-branded development proceed at the cost of lives and habitats they say are at stake. The planned luxury resort. developed by Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. became the flashpoint for a wider wave of anger at the ruling prime minister. Edi Rama. and at the government’s handling of environmental approvals.

The dispute now sits at the center of Albania’s political tremor. which has shaken the foundation of Rama’s 13-year tenure. The immediate spark has been allegations that the Albanian government may have improperly ignored migratory bird routes when approving a 10. 000-room project. Protesters’ concerns have also been tied to what they describe as sensitive ecological sites: environmentalists say both the mainland coastal resort and the remote island resort are ecologically sensitive. and the island is a former Albanian military base covered with concrete blockhouses and landmines.

The protests have carried a name: “the Flamingo Revolution.” It references the bird protesters say could be harmed if redevelopment goes forward. The intensity has grown alongside public anger over reports and videos of security guards allegedly assaulting protesters.

Rama, who has faced calls for his resignation, has said he will not back down. “There is no chance for this investment to stop as long as I am here. ” he said recently. accusing protesters of antisemitism and disinformation. In a public speech on Wednesday. Rama framed the project as part of a longer political bargain. saying. “What do I need power for if I have to abandon the vision I have shared with you all these years?” He added. “We must enter the Champions League of global tourism.” On Friday. he told Politico. “If it was not Jared. they would not give a shit about what is happening in Albania.”.

Still, the pressure hasn’t gone quiet. Albania’s official anti-corruption agency has announced it is probing whether changes to the resort area’s environmental and zoning regulations in 2024 were suspicious. And beyond the resort itself. the unrest has deepened the sense that the project is not just about real estate—it is about who gets to decide what happens to contested land.

Albania’s political system is part of why the conflict has moved this far, this fast. Freedom House gives Albania a score of 69. and describes the country as having “a record of competitive elections” and that freedom of assembly is “generally respected.” That openness to public demonstration stands in stark contrast to other places where Trump-linked developments have advanced with less visible backlash.

In the last couple years. Trump Organization projects have been announced across a long stretch of countries. including Georgia. Saudi Arabia. Maldives. Romania. Australia. Vietnam. Qatar. Oman. the United Arab Emirates. and India. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have also announced their own plans for Trump-branded development in Serbia and for their Albania resort. Yet critics argue that the backlash has been particularly volatile around the Kushner-linked proposals in Serbia and Albania—so much so that demonstrations have surged when news of possible government involvement to move those deals along has circulated.

The contrast extends beyond Europe. One example cited is Vietnam. where the government has relocated hundreds of residents to make room for a $1.5 billion-dollar Trump-branded mega-resort. and that project is described as well underway. In other authoritarian-leaning states—Saudi Arabia. Qatar. Oman. and the UAE among them—Trump World projects are described as having “coast[ed] along breezily. ” without the kind of sustained public protest that has emerged in Albania.

Saudi Arabia. Freedom House says. is an absolute monarchy that “restricts almost all political rights and civil liberties” and “relies on pervasive surveillance [and] the criminalization of dissent.” The watchdog group notes that Saudi authorities have executed people for “offenses related to their participation in protests and demonstrations when they were still minors.” Freedom House gives Saudi Arabia a freedom score of 9 out of 100.

In Oman, another absolute monarchy, Freedom House gives a score of 24. The Trump Organization has partnered with a Saudi developer and the Omani government to secure land in a prime location overlooking the Persian Gulf. not far from the war-ravaged Strait of Hormuz. In the UAE and Qatar, Freedom House scores are listed as 18 and 25, respectively, and Vietnam’s score is listed as 20.

Albania and Serbia sit in a different category than those states, but they still fall short of strong democratic guarantees. Serbia and Albania are both categorized as “partly free” by Freedom House and as “flawed democracies” by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Even so. critics point to how the openness of protest in Albania has made it more difficult for officials to push through contentious approvals without a fight.

That dynamic echoes a separate Kushner-linked effort in Serbia. A similar project proposed for an abandoned military site in nearby Serbia—intended to create a Trump-branded hotel tower—collapsed after protests and an investigation by Serbia’s anti-corruption agency. That controversy has grown into a legal scandal: four individuals have been criminally charged. including the country’s culture minister. who is currently on trial.

In the United States, the story doesn’t end overseas. The current Freedom House score for the United States ticked down from 84 to 81 during the first year of Trump’s second term. though the country remains categorized as “free.” Anti-Trump protests in the U.S. as the source material puts it. show no signs of stopping.

What Albania is experiencing now—protests escalating into an inquiry by the anti-corruption agency. protests with a widely recognized name in the streets. and a prime minister insisting the project won’t halt—looks like a test case for the limits of political patience and public oversight. In a country where competitive elections exist and freedom of assembly is generally respected. ordinary citizens and watchdog institutions can still move the story out of private negotiations and into open confrontation.

For the developers. that kind of visibility is precisely what turns a real estate plan into something far more volatile than construction schedules and zoning maps. And for Albania’s political life. the result is a new. uncomfortable reckoning with how power and public dissent collide—on land where protesters say the consequences will outlast any ribbon-cutting.

Albania protests Flamingo Revolution Ivanka Trump Jared Kushner Edi Rama Trump Organization migratory bird routes anti-corruption agency environmental and zoning regulations Serbia investigation Freedom House democracy