"Javanka" Starts A Revolt In Albania

 

For almost a month, Albanians have demonstrated against their government's approval of a reckless real estate development project backed by the odious Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump on Albania's Adriatic Sea, which would destroy an ecological area that's one of the last in the Mediterranean region.  Every night, growing numbers of angry Albanians demonstrate against the selling of their natural heritage by the corrupt government of Prime Minister Edi Rama and his colleagues in the government.  From Mei Seva writing in Mother Jones:

"Every day, for nearly a month running, tens of thousands of Albanians have taken to the streets, a peaceful mass movement seeking nothing less than a complete overthrow of the government.

The “Flamingo Revolution,” as local activists have dubbed it, was set off by the luxury resort projects that Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, plan to build on nature reserves in Albania. At the beginning of May, a barbed-wire fence was erected in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape in Zvërnec, restricting access to one of the most treasured natural coastlines and one of the Mediterranean’s last untouched coastal ecosystems.

Activists, residents, and members of the Levizja Bashkë political party gathered to protest the fences, and after security guards violently dragged a demonstrator through the property, more protests erupted and the story went global.

The Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape is home to flamingos, pelicans, migratory birds, and hundreds of protected species. It includes lagoons, wetlands, and habitats of exceptional ecological value. And it is one of many protected nature zones now at dire risk of destruction.

In February 2024, led by Prime Minister Edi Rama of the center-left Socialist Party, Albania’s parliament passed Law 21/2024, which allows the National Territory Council to grant permits for luxury tourist resorts anywhere in the country, even in protected landscapes. Three days later, Kushner went public with plans to create two luxury developments in the region, including a resort on Sazan, a protected nature zone and one of Albania’s only major islands.

Javanka’s vision includes up to 10,000 'units of villas,' priced far beyond what most Albanians can afford, to be built in an area where many locals lack access to 24-7 running water. Albania, which has set a goal of 2030 for admission to the European Union, is obligated to repeal Law 21/2024, which clashes with EU conservation standards, but so far has failed to do so." (our emphasis)

The photographs accompanying the story are powerful, and it's heartbreaking to realize that two selfish, rapacious nepo babies could be gorging on a pristine Adriatic coastline that most Albanians will never get access to again.  The Albanian government is defending their approval of the resort development with the usual "jobs creation and economic stimulus" argument, which the people aren't buying at the expense of their natural heritage.  Hopefully the demonstrations will grow and the government will be replaced by those who have their country's interests -- and not Javanka's -- at heart.

(photo: Marchers in Tirana, Albania, June 2026. Nurphoto / Getty Images)