In a corner of the Adriatic Sea that has long sought to shed the remnants of its Communist past, Albania now finds itself at the center of a burgeoning controversy interwining the ambitions of former President Donald J. Trump’s family with the lingering complexities of land ownership in a nation still grappling with its post-1991 transition.
The controversy stems from two proposed luxury real estate developments, spearheaded by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and his wife, Ivanka Trump, on land that has not only been the subject of bitter disputes but also symbolizes the turbulent history of Albania’s journey from dictatorship to democracy.
The projects in question, valued at $1 billion, aim to transform parts of Albania’s coastline into opulent tourist destinations, thereby elevating the country’s profile on the global stage. The plans have not gone uncontested. At the heart of the dispute is a swath of land on the mainland where the Konomi family, Albanian by origin, claims a stake rooted in decades of farming. Their land, once expropriated by the Communist regime and only partially returned after the fall of the dictatorship, is now being eyed for the construction of a luxurious hotel and beach villa complex.
Bledar Alexandros Konomi, who recalls tending cattle on the land as a young boy, speaks to The New York Times with a mixture of frustration and resignation. “They are trying to take from us what is ours,” he says, his statement underscored by Albanian court records that support his family’s claim.
Making things more complex is Sazan Island, a small but strategically significant piece of land off the Albanian coast. This island, steeped in military history, particularly during the Cold War when it served as a Soviet outpost, has become the focal point of Kushner’s second real estate venture.
Yet, unbeknownst to many, an Albanian American real estate developer based in New York, Evi Kokalari-Angelakis, had previously submitted a proposal to redevelop the island, only to find her efforts stymied. Kokalari-Angelakis contends that the Albanian government has dismissed her proposal in favor of Kushner’s, ostensibly to curry favor with the Trump family in anticipation of a possible Trump return to the White House.
“My biggest disadvantage is that I am up against Trump’s daughter and son-in-law,” she laments, revealing her disillusionment with the process, especially after Ivanka Trump publicly declared in July that she and Kushner had already secured the deal to develop Sazan.
The situation on Sazan Island has not escaped scrutiny from local political figures either. Agron Shehaj, a member of the Albanian parliament and a vocal critic of the current government, has raised concerns about the transparency—or lack thereof—surrounding the decision-making process for such a critical development. For Shehaj, the opacity of the process suggests that the deal is not merely about tourism but may serve broader political interests, particularly those of Prime Minister Edi Rama, who has been accused of aligning too closely with foreign powers for personal and political gain.
Prime Minister Rama, however, has strongly denied any allegations of favoritism, dismissing them as baseless. In a statement provided to The Times, Rama’s spokesman expressed pride in the interest shown by Kushner, framing it as a testament to Albania’s growing appeal as a tourist destination. “The fact that such a renowned American entrepreneur shows his interest in investing in Albania makes us very proud and happy,” the statement read, positioning the developments as a milestone in Albania’s emergence as a new star in the Mediterranean tourism industry.
Proposed developments are not under the auspices of the Trump Organization, which typically carries the branding and direct involvement of the Trump family. Instead, Kushner has pursued these ventures through his own investment company, Affinity Partners, which has received significant backing from Saudi Arabia. Such detachment from the Trump brand, however, has done little to mitigate concerns about the potential conflicts of interest, given Kushner’s and Ivanka Trump’s close ties to the former president.
The stakes are particularly high on Sazan Island, a place where the echoes of history resonate through its abandoned military installations and bomb shelters. As a site of strategic importance during both World War II and the Cold War, Sazan carries with it the weight of Albania’s geopolitical past, a past that Kushner now seeks to reshape into a luxury tourist enclave. Yet, for the island to transition from a relic of military conflict to a symbol of modern opulence, Kushner’s firm must first navigate the complex web of approvals required by the Albanian government, a process that is still ongoing and shrouded in uncertainty.
