Violent clashes erupted between police and demonstrators outside Albania’s parliament on Thursday, as protests against a controversial resort development linked to US President Donald Trump’s family continue.
Since late May, protests have been held against the construction of a luxury hotel linked to Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner in a nature reserve in Zvernec, on Albania’s southwestern coast.
For the second time this week, large groups of protesters had gathered outside the country’s parliament in an attempt to confront lawmakers and block entry to the building.
Hundreds of demonstrators were met with lines of riot police who pushed them back from the building, leading to clashes and several arrests, according to journalists at the scene.
Police used pepper spray and a water cannon in an attempt to break up the crowd as some protesters attempted push through lines of officers.
Nine officers were injured by projectiles thrown by protesters, police said, but did not confirm arrest numbers.
People were also seen smashing the windows of an empty police car in a nearby street as the crowd was pushed away from area.
It comes after six protesters were arrested on Tuesday when demonstrators threw eggs at lawmakers’ cars.
The violence is a marked contrast to the overwhelmingly peaceful daily gatherings that have drawn thousands to the streets since the movement began.
The planned resort was first unveiled in 2024, but the latest wave of protests began after barbed-wire fencing and bulldozers appeared on beaches in late May.
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 a protected 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.
Opposition to the project has become a flashpoint for anger over perceived corruption, with protesters calling for Prime Minister Edi Rama to step down over what they describe as a lack of transparency.
Hybrid war
Last month, Rama told Euronews that a “hybrid war” was responsible for stoking anger among protesters, blaming bots, antisemitic narratives and hostile external forces.
“It’s a lot of bots, it’s a lot of fake profiles, it’s a lot of attacks coming from all over,” Rama said. “I have seen it this week on social media. The way it has happened in other countries, I am now seeing it in my own country.”
Asked whether protesters’ concerns were legitimate, Rama argued that their “well-meaning” worries were being “weaponised” by hostile actors employing a coordinated online strategy to exploit public sentiment around environmental protection and Albania’s relationship with Israel.
Also in June, the European Commission issued a veiled warning to the Albanian government over the planned project, urging authorities to “act without delay” in order to avoid jeopardising the country’s bid to join the EU, which will require it to align with the bloc’s environmental rules.
“Albania should refrain from actions that could undermine the fulfilment of the closing benchmark, in this case Chapter 27, and so we expect the Albanian authorities to act without any delay,” spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said, referring to the chapter of EU accession talks which requires a candidate country to align with environmental rules.
Additional sources • AP, AFP