Tirana, 23 January 2026, dtt-net.com – 41 environmental organizations from 28 countries have called yesterday Albanian government through a letter to suspend immediately any initiative for construction of luxury hotel resort area in Sazan island by Donald Trump’s son-in-law and declare Albania’s only island a national environmental protected area instead.
Organizations, of which most of them from European countries, say the project of Jared Kushner poses “serious risks to the biodiversity and critical habitats of the area”, according to the letter sent to the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Minister of Environment Sofjan Jaupaj, and published today by the Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA) NGO, which is one of the signatories of the letter.
In December 2024 Albanian government granted the status of “strategic investor” to the company of Jared Kushner “Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC”, which is a subsidiary of “Kushner Realty LLC”, for construction of a luxury touristic resort in the Sazan Island in southern Albania..
“The investment value of the tourist project ‘Tourist Resort – Sazan Island’ meets the criteria provided for by the legislation on strategic investments and is expected to be 1.4 billion Euros,” said the Committee of Strategic Investments of Albania, chaired by Edi Rama in its decision.
According to the decision, the investment project is intended to be developed on the island of Sazan of Vlora Municipality, which has a total area of 562 ha and a construction area of 45 ha.
The status “Investment/Strategic Investor Special Procedure” is granted to the investment project “Tourist Resort – Sazan Island” Sazanit” for a period of 10 years.
According to the decision, this deadline will serve the strategic project to benefit from priority procedures and within accelerated deadlines, in accordance with the legislation on strategic investments, as well as the fulfilment of the tasks and action plan foreseen in this decision.
Meanwhile, the agreement to be signed, after negotiation and finalization according to legal provisions, in the further stages of the project evaluation, will foresee the necessary deadline for the full realization of the investment, the mutual commitments and obligations between the parties and the detailed support measures, which this project benefits, according to the legislation in force.
Albanian state is planned to participate in this investment through the creation of a joint legal entity composed of the Albanian Investment Corporation (AIC), Albanian Seaports Development Company sh.a (ASDC), in the capacity of the state party, and the investment entity Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, according to the decision.
But environmental organizations say that the project would harm to the biodiversity and habitats of the island.
“Sazan Island and its surrounding waters provide crucial habitats for some of the world’s most endangered marine species, including the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus), listed on the IUCN Red List and under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). The area also hosts 36 other globally threatened marine species, including marine plants, mollusks, crustaceans, fish, reptiles, and cetaceans, all protected under international agreements such as the Barcelona Convention, Bonn Convention, CITES, and Bern Convention. The Posidonia oceanica meadows and coastal caves of Sazan Island offer essential habitats for these species and are vital to the Mediterranean ecosystem,” they recalled in the letter.
“In this context, we respectfully and urgently request the immediate suspension of any executive or parliamentary decision related to the advancement of this project; The formal inclusion of the land part of Sazan Island within the Karaburun-Sazan National Marine Park, known as a Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI); The official registration of the island as an Emerald Candidate Area6, as part of the ecological network of Areas of Special Conservation Interest (ASCIs) under the auspices of the Council of Europe, and as a future part of the EU’s Natura 2000 network; The full implementation of Albania’s obligations under international conventions for the protection of nature and biodiversity, in particular those related7 to the conservation of the Mediterranean monk seal and its habitats.”
“We call on you to take immediate action to prevent the degradation of one of the rarest ecological assets of Albania and the Mediterranean, in the name of nature conservation, the rule of law and responsibility towards future generations,” they concluded in their call.
Kushner’s wife Ivanka Trump visited Albania this week for three days having meetings with Edi Rama over the project. She made no statements to the media, beside posting views from Albania landscape through her Instagram account.
