Protests in Albania grow over Jared Kushner-backed luxury resort

Protesters clash with police during third day of unrest in Albania. Photograph: Armando Babani/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Protesters clash with police during third day of unrest in Albania. Photograph: Armando Babani/Getty Images Protests in Albania grow over Jared Kushner-backed luxury resort Conservation groups say work has begun in protected coastal area, while prime minister insists project will bring jobs and investment Protests in Albania over a proposed luxury resort backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner , are set to intensify after opponents rejected an offer from the country’s prime minister “to discuss solutions”. Thousands took to the streets of Tirana for a third straight day on Wednesday, some of them brandishing inflatable flamingos in a nod to feared environmental damage, amid mounting calls for the project to be blocked. Protests are also planned for the south of the country, where groundwork on the $1.6bn (£1.19bn) complex recently began in an area long seen as one of the Mediterranean’s most environmentally sensitive. “From start to finish there has been a total lack of transparency,” said Aleksandr Trajce, executive director of the country’s leading conservation group, the Protection and Preservation of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA). “We have seen no public consultation or public documentation regarding permits, and so now what we are saying is, if they remove the bulldozers, remove the fence and restore the habitats to what they were, then we can start talking.” View image in fullscreen Jared Kushner’s firm has begun groundwork on a new resort in Albania. Photograph: Gian Ehrenzeller/EPA The prime minister, Edi Rama, who has defended the development as a milestone in the tiny Balkan country’s trajectory from Stalinist state to high-end holiday destination, proposed on Tuesday that he meet protesters in an attempt to break the logjam. But the socialist leader also stuck to his guns, saying: “There is absolutely no chance that the investment will stop as long as I am here.” As Albania’s oldest environment group, the PPNEA raised the alarm when warnings emerged that a region of unique biodiversity and cultural heritage was at risk of being destroyed. Earlier this year Ivanka Trump made a surprise visit to the country with a team of architects, touring the site earmarked for development by her husband’s investment firm, Affinity Partners. The resort is intended to cover an area that not only includes the uninhabited outcrop of Sazan, Albania’s only island, but wetlands and coastal habitats in the marine national park that surrounds it. The waters are among the last refuges for the Mediterranean monk seal, with the area also sheltering more than 200 bird species – many endangered – including flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans, according to BirdLife International. Swathes of protected coastal landscape, north of the village of Zvërnec, between the lagoon of Narta and the sea, are also earmarked for