TIRANA, Albania — A massive coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S.President Donald Trump, is facing growing resistance from protesters in Albania.The government says the development on the Adriatic coast would be transformational for the former communist nation as it seeks to enter the high-end tourism market and pushes for European Union membership.But the venture, spanning an abandoned island and a nearby stretch of seafront on Albania's southern coast, has drawn opposition from environmental campaigners and critics of long-time Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.The luxury project has two components: a coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area, which is a wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort on the nearby uninhabited island of Sazan, a communist-era military base.The planned development of hotels, apartments, villas and a marina is linked to Kushner and Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump.In an interview this week with U.S.
podcaster David Senra, Ivanka Trump said they discovered the site by accident."We were on a friend's boat, and we stopped for a swim.Effectively, that's how we found it," she said.
"We swam to the island.We went on a hike, barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated."An investment firm linked to Kushner has been granted special investor status by Albanian authorities.Albania has 450 kilometers (280 miles) of coast that remained largely underdeveloped during decades of harsh communist rule.Protest groups fear the sections of that pristine coastline could be snapped up by powerful investors.
And public anger grew after video showed an activist being dragged by a private security guard while demonstrating at the site.The development is planned within a nature reserve and one of Albania's most valuable biodiversity areas, a key stopover for migratory birds along the Adriatic coast.Protesters have carried cardboard cut-outs of pink flamingos, one of the protected migratory bird species, a...