By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, June 7, 2026
Some inspiring news from Albania.
From Common Dreams on June 3:
As President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner moves forward with plans to build a luxury resort on one of the last untouched parts of the Mediterranean coast, thousands of Albanians have taken to the streets in protest. On Tuesday evening, a throng gathered outside the office of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in the capital Tirana, holding inflatable flamingos and signs reading “Nation is not for sale” and “I don’t want Albania like Dubai,” Reuters reported. Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, is seeking to build a €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) resort on the uninhabited island of Sazan and around 10,000 hotel rooms and villas along a stretch of coastline near the protected wetland of Vjosa-Narta. . . . Activists have said bulldozers have begun tearing through the coastline and gravel has already been dumped on age-old sand dunes—damage that could take hundreds of years to repair. Meanwhile, a large barbed-wire fence has been erected, blocking public access to the beach.
From Alarabia on June 7:
Thousands of people rallied Saturday in the Albanian capital and hundreds in a protected nature reserve on the country’s coast to protest plans for a luxury beach resort by a company linked to the Trump family. Answering a call from environmental organizations, activists from across the country and local residents flocked at midday to the Vjosa-Narta lagoon, around 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of the capital Tirana. It was the latest in a series of protests against a project whose cost is estimated at around four billion euros ($4.6 billion), linked to US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. “The whole of this marine area is a protected zone. To destroy it would be fatal for this region’s biodiversity,” one protester, Emiljona Puja, a finance worker, told AFP. Protesters gathered on a sandy beach facing azure waters, some waving red Albanian flags, others carrying inflatable flamingos — the movement’s symbol — while chanting: “Cancel the project!” Later in central Tirana, crowds staged the biggest demonstration yet against the project, marching to the government headquarters with placards reading: “Ivanka go home” and “Albania is not for sale,” AFP reporters saw. Unrest broke out in the reserve during an initial protest in late May against preparatory onsite work during installation of barbed wire to cordon off the area. The barbed wire has since been removed. People rushed there after seeing videos on social media showing construction work and bulldozers on the beach. Those machines were not there on Saturday either. AFP journalists observed concrete foundations for a fence on the ground that had also been removed.
From Vox on June 7:
The wave of protests continues in the country, where citizens and organizers have demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, while announcing that rallies will be held every day at 6:00 PM. With the slogan “Albania is not for sale”, participants are taking to the squares every afternoon, expressing dissatisfaction with the government and opposing the investment project in the Zvërnec area. According to the organizers, the gathering will start at Skanderbeg Square, while protesters will then march towards the Prime Minister’s Office. “Our voice, our dignity, our future” is the slogan being used to invite citizens to join the daily rallies.
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