Protests have broken out in Albania over Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s $1.4bn purchase of the abandoned island of Sazan, a communist-era military base.
In addition to the strip, the couple’s deal also includes a $4.7bn agreement on part of a protected coastal landscape in Zvërnec.
Albania’s government has championed the Adriatic coast development as a transformative venture for the nation, aiming to boost its high-end tourism sector and support its bid for European Union membership.
But the project on the lush island and stretch of seafront on Albania’s southern coast – referred to by Trump as a “fixer-upper” – has sparked criticism from environmental groups and detractors of the long-serving Socialist Prime Minister, Edi Rama.
President Trump’s daughter says she and her husband discovered the area while on a hike.
“We were on a friend’s boat, and we stopped for a swim. Effectively, that’s how we found it,” she said. “We swam to the island. We went on a hike, barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated.”
After the widespread backlash Prime Minister Rama insisted in an interview with CNN on Thursday: “There is not a project yet.”
He said: “There is no such thing as a Trump family island. There is no such thing as the family of the American president taking over protected areas where flamingos will be killed by them.”
Dubbed “Trump island” by angry locals, below we take a closer look at Sazan with its 3,600 nuclear bunkers, unexploded weapons, bomb shelters and miles of tunnels.
Strategic military location used by the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires
Albania, situated in southeastern Europe’s Balkan peninsula, is an emerging tourist hotspot that has seen a 15 per cent rise in tourism over the last year as visitors flock to enjoy stunning landscapes at a fraction of the cost of similar destinations across Europe.
Located in the Adriatic Sea, Sazan is Albania’s largest island and is a designated military exclusion zone located in a strategically important location between the Strait of Otranto and the mouth of the Bay of Vlorë, marking the border between the Adriatic and Ionian seas that then flows into the Mediterranean.
It is just 59 miles east of the Salento coast in the region of Apulia in Italy and can sometimes be viewed from the Italian coast on a clear day.
The island’s strategic location means it has a long and ancient history having been part of the Roman Empire before coming under Byzantine rule. It was captured by the Kingdom of Albania in 1279 and held under the protection of the Republic of Venice.
Prior to coming under Ottoman control from the 15th century, it served an important maritime and religious function, hosting a Marian Shrine to the Virgin Mary after an apparent apparition of the saint on the Island. It was briefly under British protection following the Napoleonic wars before being ceded to Greece.
It was used as a base for German and Italian submarines during World War II. Albania relied heavily on the Soviet Union during the Cold War and after the split from Communism, the area has been used as been largely unused but has occasionally been used by the British Royal Navy for training exercises and a shelter for boats.
Bunkers, bomb shelters and miles of secret tunnels
Sazan Island is home to at least 3,600 Soviet-style nuclear bunkers built during the Cold War.
The mushroom-shaped shelters are situated sporadically across the Island and Kushner has said they plan to incorporate the bunkers into their plans for the tourist resort and that some of the shelters will be preserved.
Because of its military background, experts have warned about the presence of mine-like weapons and other unexploded ordnances dotted across the landscape that will need to be cleared in order for the destination to become safe for visitors.
The 1,400 acre Mediterranean island is also home to at least ten miles of underground tunnels from the Communist era. Several bomb shelters and buildings designed to store military supplies and ammunition are also arranged around the area.
Maritime National Park and Wildlife reserve
The coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area includes a wildlife reserve and the surrounding crystal-clear waters make up the Karaburun-Sazan maritime national park.
The development is to be built within a nature reserve and one of Albania’s most valuable biodiversity areas, a key stopover for migratory birds along the Adriatic coast.
The couple’s real-estate plans for the mega-resort have subsequently drawn major complaints and protests from environmental groups who are worried about the impact the development will have on the ecology of the landscape.
Albania has 450 kilometers (280 miles) of coast that remained largely underdeveloped during decades of communist rule.
Protesters have carried cardboard cut-outs of pink flamingos, one of the protected migratory bird species, at rallies in the capital Tirana.
Since late May, excavators and other heavy machinery have entered the area in order to open access routes, dig into the sand and have begun clearing land among pine trees and installing fencing.
Environmental groups from Albania and elsewhere in Europe condemned the work, with one prominent local group charging that long-protected habitats are being “irreversibly destroyed.”
A multi-billion dollar bonanza?
Albania’s state anti-corruption agency has confirmed it opened an investigation related to the project but has not disclosed details.
The government says the land earmarked for the project is privately owned but competing claims have emerged questioning the privatisation, a common dispute on similar deals.
Prime Minister Rama remains committed and says the development would align with Albania’s ambition to become a major global tourism destination.
“Albania should not be a country that fears an extraordinary project like this one, where exceptional partners have come together to invest 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion),” Rama said. “There is no chance for this investment to stop as long as I am here.”
In the interview with CNN on Thursday, PM Rama said: “The investigation is about that. It’s not about the investment. It’s not about the project. It’s not about Kushner. It’s not about Trump. It’s not about anything that is being brought in this melting pot to create a sensational fake news that Albania is a place where we are killing flamingos.”
