At six o’clock in the morning on June 6, the waters around Albania’s Sazan Island were calm and blue as Eva Buzo’s motorboat entered the harbour. The Australian marathon swimmer with Albanian roots had come prepared for a protest unlike any other. Her plan was simple but demanding: swim around the roughly five-square-kilometre island and continue back toward the mainland, using endurance rather than slogans to draw attention to a growing environmental dispute.
Her destination was the Narta Lagoon, one of the last undeveloped river deltas in the Mediterranean. With its dunes, beaches, pine forests, and wildlife including pelicans, sea turtles, and flamingos, the area has become the centre of a national argument over Albania’s future.
The dispute began after plans emerged for a massive luxury resort project spanning Sazan Island and the surrounding coastal area. The development, estimated at around $4 billion, is linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, through his investment company Affinity Partners. Although Albanian authorities have not formally approved the project, leaked plans have outlined a development featuring marinas, golf courses, casinos, fitness centres, water parks, private villas, and facilities for helicopters and private jets.
The proposal has raised a fundamental question in Albania, one of Europe’s poorest countries: should the country’s remaining untouched natural landscapes be preserved, or should they be transformed into high-end tourism destinations designed to attract global investment?
The controversy has grown far beyond the involvement of Kushner. For many protesters, the issue is not the American investor himself but what they describe as the broader sale of Albania’s coastline.
Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump, has publicly praised the beauty of the area, particularly Sazan Island. She said in a podcast that she and her husband had arrived by yacht, swam ashore, and walked barefoot across the island. She described their architectural plans as an effort to develop the island’s “potential” while maintaining restraint and care.
Yet the landscape of Sazan today still reflects a different era. Until 1991, during Albania’s communist period, the island was a highly restricted military base. Abandoned concrete bunkers, old cranes, oil barrels, and empty soldiers’ barracks remain as reminders of its past. The island has no permanent residents and has remained largely untouched.
On the mainland, however, construction activity had already begun. In late April, excavators and heavy machinery moved through pine forests near the Narta Lagoon, clearing land and laying foundations. Workers dug into the ground, poured concrete, and installed fences topped with razor wire. Local residents and environmental activists from Tirana began protesting.
The movement expanded rapidly after a video circulated online in mid-May showing security guards from a private company dragging a man across the sand. Following the video’s spread, thousands of people began gathering in Tirana almost every evening.
The protests became known as the “Flamingo Revolution,” inspired by the birds that inhabit the Narta Lagoon. Demonstrators carried images of flamingos standing against bulldozers or breaking through barbed wire with their beaks. The pink colour associated with the birds became the symbol of the movement.
Buzo, who had initially followed the protests online, decided to travel to Albania after seeing her 18-year-old cousin join the demonstrations. Born in Australia and now living in Britain, where she works as a human rights lawyer, Buzo said many members of the Albanian diaspora remained deeply connected to the country despite living abroad.
On the morning of her swim, Buzo wore a pink swimming cap and matching suit. At 6:11 a.m., she entered the water surrounded by a small support team. Six hours later, she reached the mainland, where protesters and journalists gathered to welcome her. Holding a champagne bottle, the Albanian flag, and an inflatable flamingo, she called for the Albanian government to be held accountable.
Environmental activist Denisa Kasa was among those waiting for her arrival. Kasa works with PPNEA, Albania’s oldest environmental organisation. She previously lived in the Netherlands and worked for investment firms before returning to Albania to focus on environmental issues.
Kasa said she had witnessed years of environmental damage, including untreated wastewater flowing into the sea, rivers used as dumping grounds, and uncontrolled construction along the coast. She recalled how pine forests once reached the beaches near Durrës, where she grew up, before disappearing after the fall of communism as construction expanded.
According to Kasa, the current protests represent a broader concern about how Albania manages its natural resources. Many demonstrators say they are not opposed to investment itself but want greater transparency over major development projects.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has defended the resort plans, arguing that luxury tourism can bring economic benefits. He has rejected claims that such developments are harmful to the public interest and said the project could contribute to an economic transformation.
In 2024, Rama’s Socialist Party changed legislation to allow strategic investors to build hotels in protected areas. A company connected to Kushner’s investment fund was later granted strategic investor status.
However, the political consequences have increasingly focused on Rama himself. Protesters in Tirana have chanted “Rama resign” and accused the government of allowing Albania’s coastline to be transformed into exclusive private developments while many citizens continue to struggle with basic infrastructure, rising rents, and limited incomes.
Despite Rama’s claims that the demonstrations are partly motivated by opposition to Donald Trump, protesters have rarely focused on the former US president or Kushner. Many participants say their concerns are about transparency, environmental protection, and the future of Albania’s coastal areas.
The debate has also gained attention after Albania’s Special Anti-Corruption Structure reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Artur Shehu, a major landowner in the Narta Lagoon area, over allegations involving forged documents and money laundering linked to drug trafficking.
The wider political context adds another layer to the controversy. Rama, who has led Albania since 2013 and is seeking to guide the country toward European Union membership by 2030, has maintained relationships across different political circles, from European leaders to figures connected with US politics. He has insisted that Kushner should be viewed simply as an investor.
For many protesters, however, the identity of the investor is secondary. Their focus remains on what they describe as the future of Albania’s natural heritage and the decisions being made about it.
A week after Buzo’s swim, thousands again gathered outside the prime minister’s office in Tirana. As evening fell, protesters switched on their phone lights and marched through the city, passing the National Gallery where the words “Flamingo Revolution” had been painted over. In their place, demonstrators had drawn a new image: the outline of a flamingo.
