Kostaq's family lives by a stunning European wilderness area. Trump's family wants to build a resort there

Watch Dateline's latest episode, Albania’s Luxury Tourism Turmoil, on 15 September at 9.30pm AEST on SBS or SBS On Demand. 

For 81-year-old olive grower Kostaq Konomi, the soil of his land in Zvërnec, a coastal village in central Albania, is full of memories.

"My father used to work on the land, as it was private land, it was his land," Kostaq told SBS Dateline

"He would plant things, whereas I, as the beach was close there, I would go and pick the seashells.

"I used to have a herd of goats and together with other friends from our village, would go there [and] graze them."

The fertile land he describes sits on the Vjosa-Narta lagoon, a once-protected wetland home to more than 200 resident and migratory bird species, including flamingos.

The lagoon’s salt flats attract flocks of flamingos across different seasons, with September bringing a pink spectacle as thousands arrive as part of their migration between Europe and Africa.

Described as one of Europe’s last great wilderness frontiers, this fragile ecosystem also includes the rare Dalmatian pelican, loggerhead sea turtles that nest in the dunes and the endangered Mediterranean monk seal.

Kostaq is proud of the beauty that can be found around his village — his family has lived here for generations and has owned the same house since 1880. The family remained during communist rule, when the land was collectivised and owned by the state. Their ownership returned when the regime fell in the 1990s.

"It was a joyful thing; everyone got back the land of their parents."

But earlier this year, Kostaq became aware of a new threat to his land. He is part of a group of residents who say their land has been sold off without their knowledge for a luxury resort development, linked to the family of US President Donald Trump.

In 2024, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner unveiled plans on social media for his investment firm to develop a luxury resort across two locations in Albania: the Zvërnec peninsula and a small island off its coast, Sazan, which used to serve as a communist-era military outpost.

That same year, the Albanian parliament passed a law rolling back environmental safeguards permitting high-end tourism-related construction inside previously protected zones, like the Vjosa-Narta Lagoon.

Kushner is reportedly planning to invest an estimated US$6.1 billion ($8.4 billion) in the proposed development.

Promoting the project on a podcast in May, Kushner's wife Ivanka, who is Trump’s eldest daughter, explained the couple had "discovered" Sazan Island and the nearby Zvërnec peninsula while cruising the Adriatic on a friend's super-yacht in 2021.

The resort is set to feature around 10,000 hotel rooms and luxury villas, high-end restaurants, a waterpark, casino and yacht marina.

'Very worried'

The plans have sparked outrage from environmental advocates and drawn warnings from the European Union, which has urged Albania to align with its environmental laws or jeopardise the country’s decades-long bid for EU membership.

They have also drawn fierce opposition to the streets of Albania’s capital, Tirana, with tens of thousands of people rallying at nightly protests since May.

But Albania's prime minister, Edi Rama, says Kushner's luxury resort plans are essential for boosting tourism, which is a key pillar of the country's economy, making up more than a fifth of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"It has never been a question if this will go ahead or not," he told the Reuters news agency in June.

"This is a bless for the country, an investment of 4 billion euro in a country that has 27 and a bit more billion euro GDP, speaks for itself."

Kostaq says the land seizure has made him "very, very worried".

"For me, if we were to compare now to when I felt free, I would go out each morning and open my arms wide before this vast space, and I would say to myself that this land, this sea, this air is mine.

"Tomorrow  there will be a fence and a door, and I will be asked whether I am wealthy or not to be able to go onto my own land."

Land ownership disputes

Kostaq's is one of at least 100,000 similar unresolved land ownership disputes across Albania.

It's a legacy of Albania's communist era, in which the abolition of private property and consequent poor recordkeeping have led to multiple claims being made for the same plots of land. But one man appears to have taken advantage of the chaos.

Earlier this year, Artur Shehu reportedly sold about 100 hectares of land in Zvërnec to a Qatar-registered company, which is leading the development, and has been linked to Kushner.

In June this year, it was reported Albania's Special Structure Against Corruption and Organised Crime, known as SPAK, accused Shehu of obtaining large swathes of prime coastal real estate fraudulently. Prosecutors allege Shehu forged documents, including an Ottoman-era property record, to obtain the land at Zvërnec.

The state investigators also issued an arrest warrant against Shehu, alleging his involvement in money laundering and drug trafficking.

But no one had seen Shehu in Albania in decades. He reportedly fled in 1999 following a gunfight in a bar, received political asylum in the US, and settled in Miami.

"He was simply a phantom," said Lindita Çela, an Albanian investigative journalist.

"Other investigations of the prosecution showed that he and through his 'people' he had almost the entire land registry office of Vlorë (Albania’s third largest city) under his personal control."

Through his lawyer, Shehu denied all accusations. Then, in July, he unexpectedly popped up on Albanian TV to defend himself.

"The property belongs to my family clan, and I am one of the owners, but the majority has now passed to me because I have dealt with it," he said.

Albanian investigators make no allegation of wrongdoing against Kushner, his firm or other investors — but for now, the sale remains frozen.

Flamingo protests

This land dispute and the threat to the wildlife of the Vjosa-Narta lagoon sparked the 'Flamingo Revolution', which has since evolved into an anti-government movement.

"It's bigger than just the wildlife," protester Jurgen Shpërdea, 29, told SBS Dateline.

"Cost of living is high, rent is at an all-time high, real estate as well."

Albania is ranked by watchdog agencies as among the most corrupt countries in Europe, and, according to Jurgen, everyday corruption is rife.

"You have to corrupt a doctor in order to get basic service, I would have to give him money for him to do a check on me at the state hospital," he said.

"Police corruption — here, you can just slide him a $20 bill and he'll let me go."

"That's the daily corruption that happens — take that and [then] apply it on a grand scale."

In a country where the divide between the rich and the poor only seems to be growing, the battle between the Kushner resort and the flamingos has become synonymous with the struggle of ordinary Albanians.

"They want to turn the world into a luxury resort, and they want to use us as their staff," Jurgen said.

Promised tourist boom

Kushner’s plan has other supporters too.

Since 2019, the number of tourists visiting Albania has accelerated by almost 90 per cent, many drawn to the country to experience its natural beauty, villages steeped in history and affordability.

Hotelier Krenar Ceno is hoping the Kushner luxury resort development will be good for business.

"Even though many think that they will become our competitors, that is not true," he told SBS Dateline.

"Albania and Vlorë will be known more in the international arena, and I think that people from all over the world will come to spend their holidays here."

Krenar values the boost tourism brings to Albania’s economy and believes wildlife can co-exist with property development.

"Albania will benefit immeasurably being under the umbrella of the USA," he said.

"We must view it through a positive lens, not a negative lens, over some pelicans.

"It's possible that there can be development, and the flamingos can still live right there — live in harmony with the construction."