Dua Lipa Backs Protests Against $1.4 Billion Sazan Resort in Albania
Updated
Updated · The Daily Beast · Jul 15
Dua Lipa Backs Protests Against $1.4 Billion Sazan Resort in Albania
3 articles · Updated · The Daily Beast · Jul 15
Summary
Dua Lipa called weeks of protests in Tirana “inspiring” and backed opposition to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s planned luxury resort on Albania’s Sazan island.
The $1.4 billion project has drawn resistance after bulldozers and barbed-wire fencing appeared on beaches in late May, with residents and environmental groups warning it will damage the uninhabited island’s landscape.
Lipa said the more troubling issue was Albania’s government changing the law without public consultation; parliament fast-tracked amendments in December 2024 allowing construction in environmentally sensitive areas.
Activists said her intervention could widen international attention and energize younger Albanians, while protests are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Can Dua Lipa's support for the 'flamingo revolution' actually stop a state-backed project already under construction?
As bulldozers hit protected reserves, will the EU act before Albania's membership bid is destroyed with its coast?
With a criminal probe freezing €110m, is Albania's 'blessing' of a resort a front for illicit finance?
Flamingo Revolution: How Mass Protests Halted Albania’s $2 Billion Luxury Resort and Sparked a National Reckoning Over Environmental Destruction and Corruption
Overview
As of July 14, 2026, construction on the luxury resort in Albania’s Vjosa–Narta Protected Landscape was halted after sustained and escalating protests. Environmental organizations led calls for the project’s suspension, highlighting severe threats to the region’s rich biodiversity and demanding full disclosure of project documents. These actions exposed a lack of public transparency and deep public opposition, while the government’s unwillingness to acknowledge dissent fueled fears of more radical protest measures. The crisis underscores how environmental concerns, public mobilization, and demands for transparency combined to stop the controversial development.