The Albanian prime minister’s hold on power is slipping. It is not slipping because of an economic crisis or a foreign-policy blunder. It is slipping because of a luxury resort on a stretch of coastline that environmentalists say should never have been touched.
The project, backed by Jared Kushner, has become a rallying point for a protest movement that has now drawn the formal support of the opposition. And the math in parliament is suddenly uncertain.
Several thousand demonstrators have taken to the streets of Tirana in recent days. They have been met by police in riot gear. Early reports indicate injuries on both sides.
The protests began with environmental groups who argued the development violates land-use laws and threatens protected ecosystems. But the crowds have not shrunk.
That is the key detail. In a protest movement, numbers matter. If they dwindle, the pressure fades.
Here, the numbers have held steady. That has given the opposition the confidence to escalate. The opposition has now formally joined the protests.
They are accusing the prime minister of corruption. They say he is selling off the country’s natural heritage for personal and political gain.
The prime minister defends the deal as a vital source of foreign investment and jobs. He calls the protests a political stunt orchestrated by his rivals. But the accusation has stuck.
It has stuck because the project is not just another development. It carries the name of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US President Donald Trump.
That connection gives the opposition a simple, powerful story to tell: that the prime minister is trading Albanian land for foreign political favor. The real pressure is in parliament. The prime minister’s party holds a slim majority.
That majority is now in question. The opposition is calling for a vote of no confidence. If that vote succeeds, the government falls.
Snap elections would follow. The outcome is not certain.
But local media reports say several ruling-party lawmakers have privately expressed unease with the Kushner-backed project. A few defections would flip the balance. In a deeply divided parliament, that is a real possibility.
This is not a crisis that came out of nowhere. The project itself has been controversial from the start.
The coastline in question was once pristine. Environmental groups flagged legal violations early. The government pressed ahead anyway.
That decision created the opening the opposition has now walked through. The protests have grown because the issue touches something broader than one resort. It touches the question of who owns Albania’s natural heritage and who gets to profit from it.
The prime minister bet that jobs and investment would outweigh those concerns. That bet is now being tested in the streets and in the chamber.
The next few days will decide the outcome. The situation remains tense. The government has not backed down.
But the protesters have not gone home. And the lawmakers who are privately uneasy are the wild card.
If they stay loyal, the prime minister survives. If they break ranks, the government falls. Either way, the Kushner-backed project has already done what no single political scandal has managed in years: it has brought the government to the edge of collapse.
