Dua Lipa calls Albanian protests against Jared Kushner-backed resort ‘inspiring’

London-born Dua Lipa was partially raised in Pristina, which is the home of her Kosovan Albanian émigré parents. Photograph: Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images for Bvlgari View image in fullscreen London-born Dua Lipa was partially raised in Pristina, which is the home of her Kosovan Albanian émigré parents. Photograph: Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images for Bvlgari Dua Lipa calls Albanian protests against Jared Kushner-backed resort ‘inspiring’ Pop star, whose parents are Kosovan Albanian, expresses admiration for demonstrations, which are entering their sixth week Albania’s “flamingo revolution” has won its most prominent supporter yet after the pop star Dua Lipa expressed admiration for the protest movement against a Trump family-backed resort in the Balkan state. As demonstrations against the €1.6bn (£0.85bn) real estate project entered a sixth week, the London-born singer, who was partially raised in Pristina, home to her Kosovan Albanian émigré parents, described the civic unrest as “inspiring”. View image in fullscreen Protests against the development in Tirana are on their 45th day. Photograph: Vlasov Sulaj/Jna Press/Nexpher/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock Addressing the issue in conversation with the Albanian academic and author Lea Ypi on her Service95 Book Club podcast, Lipa said: “I find it so inspiring to see how much people really care.” Albania warned EU accession at risk over Jared Kushner-backed resort plans Read more The project, which foresees widespread construction on Sazan, Albania’s only island, is backed by investors led by the US president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner , and his wife, Ivanka Trump. In a podcast released in May, Trump described the planned resort as “massive” and beautiful. The project was fast-tracked after the Albanian parliament controversially amended stringent legislation in December 2024 to allow construction in environmentally sensitive areas. There is no evidence Kushner had any role in the change. But it was this move by the parliament that Lipa, 30, said raised questions over perceived governmental transparency. “What I actually find concerning is the principle that the government could just change the law to remove the environmental protection without any kind of public consultation,” Lipa told listeners. As well as the development on Sazan, the project plans for an additional 10,000 villas built along a strip of white, sandy shore land on the Zvërnec peninsula opposite. View image in fullscreen A bay at the Vjosa-Narta protected area, where a luxury resort is planned by a company linked to Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Zvërnec. Photograph: Florion Goga/Reuters Both are uninhabited and considered nature reserves hosting vital ecosystems and wildlife zones for birdlife and other rare species in the Adriatic. MEPs have warned the EU member candidate that accession talks could be endangered if environmental standards are not upheld. Albania had hoped to join the bloc by 2030. Albania’s prime mi