Albania’s investigation – As Jared Kushner—part of the Trump administration’s Iran War diplomacy effort—develops a multibillion-dollar resort with Ivanka Trump on Albania’s Sazan Island, Albania’s anti-corruption prosecutors confirmed they are investigating the project. The inquiry cen
When Albania’s government allowed barbed wire to go up around the coastal sections of Jared Kushner’s resort property. it didn’t just change the view. It cut off miles of beach from public access—and within days the anger followed. with heavy machinery moving in and protests turning into a wider fight over land. power. and who gets to profit.
The resort at the heart of the dispute is being developed by Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump as they pursue a multibillion-dollar project on Sazan Island and nearby coastline. In an interview on the David Senra podcast. published Sunday. Ivanka Trump described the island as “an unbelievable. beautiful. 1. 400-hectare private island in the middle of the Mediterranean. ” recalling how she and others found it while swimming and hiking “barefoot all the way up to the top.” She said the development became possible “over the course of many years. ” and described the project as “the culmination of all of my experience in real estate. ” along with her view of how “people increasingly want to live.”.
Albania’s government, however, has moved from admiration to authorization—and now to investigation. In 2024. the Albanian government changed the law to allow development in an area that had previously been part of a protected national park. After Trump’s election in November 2024. the Albanian government granted Atlantic Incubation Partners. an LLC linked to Kushner. “strategic investor” status. clearing a path for permits.
That status was granted “just weeks before the new US president’s inauguration,” and the reporting says it was done “even without a business plan or feasibility study for the construction of a luxury resort on an uninhabited island once used by the army for shooting practice.”
On Monday, Albania’s Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime—SPAK—confirmed it was investigating Kushner’s project. The investigation will probe changes to the land’s protected status and how Kushner-controlled entities obtained rights.
The controversy stretches beyond the courtroom. A Balkan Investigative Reporting Network investigative report said the project involves “a network of shady individuals and companies. ” naming “a businessman accused of links to the Italian mafia. ” “a former judge who resigned due to the vetting process. ” “the daughter of a lawyer accused of forgery. ” “the company of a murdered businessman. ” and individuals linked to one of Albania’s biggest oligarchs. Shefqet Kastrati.
Environmental groups have also put the pressure on, especially ahead of the permits and construction. In January. 41 environmental organizations from 28 countries wrote to Prime Minister Edi Rama and called for “the immediate suspension of any decisions advancing the project.” They said the resort posed “serious risks to the biodiversity and critical habitats of the area. ” including “crucial habitats for some of the world’s most endangered marine species.”.
Rama has continued to defend the project. “There is not a single chance it will be stopped for as long as I am here,” Rama said at a press conference Tuesday.
On April 29, the dispute moved from paperwork into the landscape itself. Government officials allowed barbed wire fencing to be constructed around the coastal portions of the resort property. The move cut off miles of beach from the public. Heavy machinery was brought in to construct access roads. and the steps prompted regular protests by Albanians objecting to handing Kushner a public asset to develop into an ultra-luxury resort.
Video captured private security guards dragging a protester across the ground. After the incident. “authorities revoked the licenses of two private security firms involved in the incident. arrested one guard and stripped the local police chief of his duties.” Fifteen protesters were charged with crimes.
This week, the demonstrations expanded beyond the coastline and into the political center. Protests spread to Tirana, Albania’s capital, with thousands chanting “Albania is not for sale” and demanding Rama’s resignation.
Ivanka Trump, for her part, addressed the project from a distance. On the Senra podcast. she said she was “just there [in Albania] walking the lands” to “sort of be with it and experience it alongside some of the greatest living architects of our time.” She did not mention that the property has been subject to mass protests.
The fight over Kushner’s business plans has echoes far beyond Albania. In December. Kushner’s plan to build a Trump tower in Belgrade collapsed after it became tangled in a criminal corruption scandal involving Serbian government officials. Prosecutors allege that government officials forged documents to remove cultural protections from the land where the tower was to be constructed.
Back in Albania, the immediate question is whether the resort’s legal footing can survive scrutiny while the public revolt keeps spreading—especially after SPAK confirmed it is investigating the very decisions that allowed the project to move forward.
Jared Kushner Ivanka Trump Albania resort Sazan Island SPAK anti-corruption probe Edi Rama environmental groups Tirana protests Atlantic Incubation Partners strategic investor status protected national park marine habitats