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.”
“There is no such thing as a Trump family island, he added. “There is no such thing as the family of the American president taking over protected areas where flamingos will be killed by them.”
Nevertheless, Sazan has already been dubbed “Trump island” by angry locals who have made their displeasure at the reported deal clear. Below we take a closer look at the island, with its 3,600 nuclear bunkers, unexploded weapons, bomb shelters and miles of tunnels.
Albania, situated in southeastern Europe’s Balkan peninsula, is an emerging tourist hotspot that has seen a 15 per cent rise in tourism in figures released 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 has a long a storied history, being 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 in 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 also briefly under British protection following the Napoleonic wars before being ceded to Greece.
Sazan was used as a base for German and Italian submarines during the Second World War. 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.
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.
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.
More details here...
