For weeks, thousands of protesters have filled the streets of Tirana, Albania, mobilizing against elite tourism projects that threaten environmental heritage and a political class that prioritizes wealthy businessmen over popular needs. The demonstrations, which began in late May, demand the cancellation of such projects and the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.

The protests were sparked by construction work in the Narta wildlife reserves and grew as additional plans emerged, including an elite resort on Sazan Island – a former military base – promoted by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

For years, the island was treated as state property and administered by the Ministry of Defense. More recently, groundwork has been made to prepare its transfer to other ministries, likely to facilitate transfers to investors. “The area planned to be made available for the project includes approximately 5.2 million square meters of land and existing buildings on the island, representing more than 90% of Sazan’s total surface area,” according to the portal Reporter.al.

As the mobilizations grew, Rama dismissed protesters’ demands as flawed and malicious, remaining deaf to criticism. “There is only a vision and a plan,” Rama wrote on social media, “to transform Albania into the most attractive high-end tourism destination in this part of the world, while creating a net positive environmental development.”

Protesters, however, are extremely skeptical about his statements, noting that many communities have already been damaged by similar projects.

Albania’s EU path: pro-business, anti-public services

In a conversation with BreakThrough News, Enriko Peçuli, an activist participating in the protests and member of progressive party Lëvizja Bashkë, explained that the precarious situation facing coastal and rural communities in Albania today is intrinsically linked to the privatization process following the capitalist transformation beginning in 1991. At that time, industry, military infrastructure, land, and state property were transferred to “oligarchs to be.”

The neoliberal shock process continued after Rama’s election in 2013, accompanied by promises of swift accession to the European Union. “In the beginning, this was an appeal to foreign investors: ‘Come and invest in Albania because there are no trade unions,’” Peçuli says. “Of course, the vision was not about investing in new technology, agriculture, industry, health, or education.”

Over the past years, key services like healthcare and education have faced further erosion and cuts. Health procedures outside Tirana struggle to meet patient needs, and many services have effectively shifted to the private sector, leaving people struggling to cover costs. Higher education has been commercialized and tuition fees raised, despite a 2018 wave of student protests, adding to a mass emigration trend.

Communities fight to minimize impact of “investment-friendly” policies

Simultaneously, Peçuli emphasizes, “farmers and herders are pushed into a process of proletarization, while most arable land is planned to be a construction zone.”

“Having no more assets to exploit and with no intention of building sustainable industries, Edi Rama has given uncontrollable power to a handful of businessmen,” he adds. Since 2013, Rama’s administration has introduced laws benefiting investors and curbing community rights where “development” projects are introduced.

“Local municipality mining taxes are scrapped. Rivers are drained by building dams, leaving no access to water for locals. If you look beyond mainstream media, every day you find out about small protests resisting these developments. Zall Gjoçaj, Martanesh, Tragjas, Dukat, Kuç, Kallarat, Kaçinar, Shpërdhazë, Bërxullë, Grabovë. These are some of the villages where people have fought to keep their natural resources intact.”

Legislation favoring investors includes amendments to the Protected Areas Law brought in February 2024, “which opened the door to luxury resort construction in zones that had previously been strictly protected,” the environmental organization PPNEA pointed out. Under the changed legislation, several large projects have already impacted precious habitats and communities’ lives – notably in the Palasë Delta and Rrjoll, and now in Narta.

Peçuli points out that prioritizing “strategic investment” gave “free hand to the national and international oligarchy to privatize Albania’s coastline and every other natural habitat that could be an elite tourist destination, no matter who owns the land, and no matter what damage is done to nature.”

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The current protests have focused on the Sazan Island project due to its ties to the family of US President Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. While Rama backed the plan by promising that such “prestigious investors” would provide jobs and bring millions of tourists, most of the population remains unimpressed. “No one bought this,” Peçuli says. “Especially after other names tied to these huge investments were made public, including local oligarch and oil wholesaler Shefqet Kastrati, who also owns the concession contract for Tirana International Airport.”

Problematic investment plans in Narta and Sazan might not be the most scandalous moves Rama’s government has made, Peçuli says, but they are perceived by many as the last drop in a long series of irresponsible acts jeopardizing the country’s sovereignty. “The selling of our little island, of our little lagoon, of our flamingos,” he emphasizes, is only the latest step by elites trying to impose “class apartheid” in Albania.

“We are a people fed up, who never dared to think that this [the protests] might happen. And we are doing a really good job at organizing it. A fully-grown generation will come out of it, educated on taking action and organizing against every injustice. Neoliberalism will end in Albania.”

Ana Vračar , June 15, 2026

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