Flamingo Becomes Mascot for Protests Against Trump Son-in-Law's Albania Resort

TIRANA — The flamingo has become an unlikely mascot of intensifying protests in Albania against a proposed resort backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, which would encroach on the birds’ breeding ground.

On Tirana’s main boulevard, thousands of protesters gathered Wednesday for the fourth night of large-scale protests against the development. The crowd brandished Albanian flags, placards with quirky slogans and large, flamingo-shaped cardboard cut-outs on sticks.

“Albania is not for sale,” one sign said. “Where will they live now?” another read, accompanied by an image of the pink wading bird.

In 2024, Kushner — a real estate developer, investor and Trump administration negotiator on Gaza, Iran and Ukraine — announced plans for his private equity firm, Affinity Partners, to develop a major luxury resort on Albania’s Sazan Island and the Zvernec coastline near Vlora, with the potential for up to 10,000 hotel rooms.

He visited the site with his wife, Ivanka Trump, in January 2026, while in April, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama confirmed to POLITICO that discussions over the project were continuing.

The proposed development lies within a once-protected natural ecosystem that is home to flamingos, more than 200 migratory bird species, Mediterranean monk seals and nesting sea turtles. But contentious changes to Albania’s law on protected areas in 2024 paved the way for tourism developments in some protected areas.

Earlier on Wednesday, Rama told CNN International that the project does not yet exist and that the environmental assessment is still being carried out. He also added that “The challenge is not to pour concrete over the heads of flamingos. The challenge is to prove that development and nature can not only coexist, but that nature and development need each other.”

Controversy grew in late May when developers fenced off part of the site with barbed wire, triggering demonstrations, clashes with private security guards, several arrests and the jailing of a security guard accused of assaulting and unlawfully detaining a protester.

The protests have spread to Tirana, and the flamingo has become a symbol of the movement, popping up also on social media posts, accompanied by the title “the flamingo revolution.”

Suzi, a protestor who works in the tourism sector, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity because of a fear of retribution, said: “We are protesting because we are in danger of giving our land to people who have zero interest in helping Albanians, but only in profiting for themselves.”

“This movement is unprecedented in Albania’s post-communist history,” said Gresa Hasa, an expert on Albania and a PhD researcher at the University of Graz in Austria. “Without the support of any political party, they are building an independent grassroots movement driven by citizen-led mobilization. These are mainly young people, most of whom are under 30.”

Earlier this week, the country’s anti-corruption prosecutor announced it was investigating the ownership and legal status of the earmarked land, and seized assets of people linked to the project.

Jared Kushner, the White House and Affinity Partners did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Water cannons

The protest turned tense on Wednesday evening after metal barricades initially blocking off a road near the prime minister’s office were breached by protesters despite police attempts to push them back with water cannons.

Security was tight as a football match between Israel and Albania was scheduled in the national stadium, just 300 meters from where the protest was taking place.

As a flood of people have taken to social media to add their voices to the protests over the last week, a small minority shared disinformation online falsely claiming that the land had been sold to Israel, sometimes invoking Kushner’s Jewish background as evidence of a hidden political agenda. There was little obvious support for such claims at the protest.

Hasa said antisemitism is not a defining feature of the movement. “The overwhelming majority of objections are directed at the project and the decision-making process surrounding it,” she said. “People don’t care about Jared Kushner’s religious or ethnic identity.”

Stef, a German protestor who has lived in Albania for four years, said: “One part of the protest is environmental, the other is because people don’t want their land being taken from them when they are not involved and will not benefit from it.”

On Wednesday, Rama said he is ready to talk to the real protestors who have environmental concerns, not those who want to “promote anti-development stances,” but has repeatedly stated that the proposed investment will go ahead.

Albanian diaspora-organized protests have been scheduled for Sunday outside the European Parliament in Brussels, as well as in Stockholm, Berlin, Munich, Toronto, Milan, Florence, New York, Bologna and Skopje over the next five days.