one of the poorest countries in Europe can count billions in corruption
In the streets of Albania, a protest movement born from environmental alarm over a coastal resort has grown into something far older and more urgent: a public reckoning with twelve years of alleged corruption, unrecognized elections, and a government that has long answered only to itself. Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose Socialist party holds a constitutional supermajority, now faces the largest demonstrations his country has seen since the fall of communism in 1991. The resort project backed by Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners became the spark, but the fuel had been accumulating for decades — and what Albanians are asking, at bottom, is whether a state can reform itself before it must break.
- Protests described as the largest since 1991 have overwhelmed the government's initial attempt to dismiss them as a fringe gathering of a few hundred people.
- Rama's administration pivoted from denial to claiming the unrest is a foreign-orchestrated 'hybrid war' involving Iran and Russia — a framing protesters and observers reject as deflection.
- A $4 billion Kushner-backed coastal resort on ecologically sensitive lands ignited the movement, but the deeper demand — Rama's resignation and free elections under international monitors — has since eclipsed it.
- The European Parliament has urged Albania to halt construction on protected lands, adding external institutional pressure to the street-level momentum.
- Protesters are caught between two fears: that Rama's corruption will calcify permanently if he stays, and that whoever replaces him could be worse.
- Sustaining the movement is becoming its own challenge — the news cycle is shifting, fatigue is setting in, and no clear path to resolution has yet emerged.
Albania's streets have filled with protesters demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation, but the movement's true engine is not the $4 billion luxury resort proposed by Jared Kushner's firm Affinity Partners. The deeper anger is directed at three decades of alleged corruption, elections the United States has declined to recognize, and a government that has rewritten laws to protect its own power.
The resort project is real and contentious. Affinity Partners proposes two major developments on Albanian coastal lands — one on Sazan Island, a former Soviet military base, and another in Zvërnec, a protected habitat for monk seals, flamingos, and sea turtles. When news of the development spread, Albanians mobilized. But as demonstrations grew into what actor and artist Florjan Binaj called the largest since the fall of communism in 1991, the resort became a symbol rather than the substance. What protesters want is Rama gone.
Former Albanian ambassador Agim Nesho told Fox News Digital that the international narrative has the story inverted. The protests are not a reaction against Trump-linked foreign investment, he argued, but an expression of fury at a government that has stolen elections and allowed corruption to spread unchecked for twelve years. Nesho went further, suggesting that investors like Kushner actually represent accountability — bringing environmental and financial standards that Rama's domestic oligarchs have never faced.
Rama's government has defended the project vigorously, insisting Sazan Island remains state property, that Zvërnec land is privately held, and that rigorous environmental review will follow. Officials dismissed claims that protected status was stripped to enable development as fabrications. The European Parliament was unmoved, urging Albania to halt construction on sensitive lands and impose a moratorium on new permits.
Eric Czuleger, who has lived in Albania for five years and documented the protests firsthand, described the government's response as telling: first denial, then the claim that the unrest was a foreign hybrid operation. He acknowledged that some disinformation about the project has circulated online, but maintained that the core grievance — corruption, unaccountable power, stolen elections — is rooted in lived experience, not manufactured outrage.
Protesters themselves face a paralyzing uncertainty. Some fear that Rama's departure could bring someone worse; others fear that staying the course means corruption becomes permanent. Nesho sees only one viable path: Rama's resignation, early elections, and international monitors. The government has not responded to those demands. What began as environmental alarm has become a referendum on whether Albania's citizens will continue to tolerate a state that has accumulated vast wealth through corruption while remaining answerable to no one — and whether reform is still possible before something breaks.
Albania's streets have filled with protesters demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, but the movement's true fuel is not the $4 billion luxury resort project backed by Jared Kushner and his investment firm Affinity Partners. The deeper anger runs toward three decades of alleged corruption, rigged elections, and a government that answers to no one.
The resort plan itself is real enough. Kushner's firm, working through Affinity Partners, proposes two major developments on Albanian coastal lands: one on the abandoned Sazan Island, site of a former Soviet military base, and another in Zvërnec, an area that overlaps with protected habitat for monk seals, flamingos, and nesting sea turtles. The project would add roughly 10,000 hotel rooms and villas to the coast. When word of the development spread, Albanians took to the streets. But as the demonstrations have grown—actor and artist Florjan Binaj called them the largest since the fall of communism in 1991—the focus has shifted. The resort became a symbol, not the substance. What protesters actually want is Rama gone.
Former Albanian ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Agim Nesho told Fox News Digital that the international narrative has gotten it backwards. The protests are not against Trump family interests or foreign investment, he said. Rather, they reflect fury at a government that has stolen elections, changed laws at will, and allowed corruption to metastasize across the state for twelve years. Rama's supermajority, secured through an election the United States did not recognize, gives him power to rewrite the constitution. Nesho argued that global investors like Kushner actually represent hope—they bring accountability and environmental standards that Rama's own oligarchs lack.
Rama's government has defended the resort project vigorously. In a statement to Fox News Digital, officials insisted that Sazan Island remains state property and has never been offered for sale, that the Zvërnec land is privately held, and that the project will undergo rigorous environmental review. They rejected claims that protected status was stripped to enable development, calling such assertions "one of the greatest falsehoods inflated beyond all imagination." Asher Abehsera, chair of Sazan Real Estate Development, framed the project as rooted in environmental stewardship and long-term economic opportunity. Yet the European Parliament, unmoved, urged Albania to halt construction on protected lands and impose a moratorium on further permits in sensitive areas.
Eric Czuleger, who has lived in Albania for five years and documented the protests, described Rama's response as revealing. First, the government denied the protests existed, claiming only a few hundred disgruntled people. When demonstrations swelled and international media forced domestic outlets to end their blackout, officials pivoted to calling the unrest a "hybrid war" orchestrated by Iran and Russia. Czuleger noted that some disinformation about the project has circulated online, some of it fabricated or doctored, some originating outside Albania. But the core grievance—corruption, stolen elections, unaccountable power—remains rooted in lived experience.
The protesters themselves face a paralyzing uncertainty. Some fear nothing will change if Rama stays in power, that corruption will calcify permanently. Others worry that if he falls, someone worse might take his place. Czuleger observed that protesters are tired, the news cycle is moving on, and sustaining momentum requires patience, pressure, and clarity about what comes next. Nesho argued that only one path forward exists: Rama's resignation, early elections, and international monitors to ensure they are free and fair. The Rama government did not respond to direct questions about these demands.
What began as environmental alarm over a coastal resort has become a referendum on whether Albania's poorest citizens will tolerate a government that has accumulated billions in corruption while holding itself accountable to no one. The resort project may proceed or may not. But the deeper question—whether a state can reform itself, or whether it must break first—remains unresolved.
Citações Notáveis
The protests are not against foreign investors like Kushner. These investors are bringing $4 billion into Albania that will create jobs. Global investors have standards and demonstrate accountability.— Agim Nesho, former Albanian ambassador to the U.S. and UN
These are the biggest protests that have ever happened in Albania since 1991. The protesters want Rama's resignation to pave the way for an alternative government.— Florjan Binaj, Albanian actor and artist
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did the Kushner resort become the spark if corruption was always the real issue?
Because it was visible. A $4 billion project on protected land, foreign money, environmental damage—it gave people a concrete thing to point at. But once they were in the streets, they realized they were angry about much more.
The government says the land was privately owned and protections were revoked years ago. Is that credible?
Rama's own officials revoked the protections, so the credibility question answers itself. The protesters don't trust him to tell the truth about anything anymore.
What does Nesho mean when he says global investors have better standards than Rama's oligarchs?
He's arguing that Kushner's firm, whatever its motives, operates under international scrutiny and environmental law. Rama's people can do what they want with no oversight. The resort might actually be built more responsibly by outsiders than by insiders.
The European Parliament called for a halt. Does that matter?
It matters symbolically—it says the world is watching. But it doesn't stop Rama unless his own people force him out. That's what the protests are trying to do.
What happens if Rama actually resigns?
Nobody knows. That's what terrifies people. You could get reform, or you could get someone worse. The only certainty is that staying as-is means corruption continues.
Why did Rama's government claim the protests were foreign interference?
Because admitting they're homegrown means admitting the people have lost faith in him. Blaming Iran and Russia is easier than confronting that reality.