Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Friday pledged to move forward with negotiations on a controversial luxury coastal resort linked to Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, that is set for construction on the country’s only island.

The deal has sparked protests in Albania, with some calling for Rama’s resignation. But in an interview Friday with MS NOW, the prime minister waved off such criticism as “ideological bulls—.”

He told MS NOW that “negotiations” for the property were still ongoing and dismissed concerns of any conflict of interest, insisting talks began before President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year and that Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, was not acting on behalf of the U.S. government.

“When Jared Kushner and Ivanka came here and we started work together, it was not clear if Trump would go to jail or go to the White House,” he said, appearing to refer to Donald Trump’s legal battles ahead of the 2024 election.

The project, backed by Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, will cost an estimated $1.6 billion. It involves the construction of dozens of hotels, apartments and villas along the country’s western coast. A larger development is planned for the Narta Lagoon area, home to a wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort is set to be built on the uninhabited island of Sazan, a former communist-era military base.

Ivanka Trump said she and her husband first came across the location by accident while on a trip in 2021. “We were on a friend’s boat, and we stopped for a swim,” she told podcaster David Senra last month. “Effectively, that’s how we found it. We swam to the island. We went on a hike, barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated.”

In response to the construction, protests have broken out in the country’s capital, Tirana, where tens of thousands of residents have marched through the streets proclaiming, “Albania is not for sale.” Many demonstrators have carried cut-outs of flamingos, a species whose habitats they say will be destroyed if the project goes through.

Rama stressed that the deal included other parties besides Kushner’s firm. He said the “incredible team of investors” was “not coming to Albania to destroy” but “coming to build” and suggested his country was being used as a pawn to attack the Trump administration.

“Don’t come here to fight with Trump. It’s not your fight,” he said. “You want me to believe that suddenly the American media, the American influencers, the American world is caring about some flamingos in Albania?”

Earlier this month, Albania’s anti-corruption agency opened a probe into how the investment firm was granted the right to the land, which was previously designated a protected area.

Redi Muçi, a member of parliament from the left-wing party Lëvizja Bashkë (Movement Together), said the agreement between the Kushner-backed firm and the Albanian government “looks like political and financial corruption” because “there is no competition.”

“It’s very fashionable to use all these words,” Rama said when he was asked about accusations of widespread corruption in his country.

While the protests were sparked by the Kushner-backed project, they have expanded into broader anti-government demonstrations, with many calling for Rama’s resignation.

During his interview with MS NOW, the prime minister said he would not resign and suggested, without evidence, that a “majority” of the population “wants the project.” He also said an “investment of such magnitude in tourism” would bring “a lot of income for everyone” in the country.

Construction of the development could also complicate Albania’s effort to join the European Union. On Tuesday, EU spokesperson Guillaume Mercier reminded the country, which is one of the poorest in Europe, that its entry into the coalition depends on adherence to its laws, including those on the environment.

“Albania should refrain from action that could undermine the fulfillment of the closing benchmark, and we expect the Albanian authorities to act without delay,” spokesman Guillaume Mercier said.

Rama told MS NOW he was not concerned that the construction would impact his country’s chances of joining the EU.

In the U.S., news of the resort reignited ethical concerns around Kushner’s business dealings and possible conflicts of interest. While he holds no formal government role — and is frequently referred to as simply a “volunteer” by the Trump White House — Kushner has been a key figure in the administration’s foreign policy efforts, participating in negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and more recently, in the Iran war.

He’s done so while attempting to raise billions of dollars from governments in the region for his private equity fund. After the first Trump administration ended, Kushner secured $2 billion in investment from the Saudi government, along with hundreds of millions more from other Gulf nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Critics have suggested foreign leaders may be using the president’s son-in-law to curry favor with Trump. Kushner and the White House have previously claimed he is abiding by all applicable ethics laws.

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TIRANA, Albania — Tens of thousands of people took to the streets again Thursday for the 12th consecutive day of protests in a movement initially sparked by a controversial luxury resort project linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. The protests have since evolved into a broader public outcry against corruption and the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama.

“I really think we need a big change right now because our country doesn’t feel like it’s protecting us or serving its own people,” protester Estela Ujka told MS NOW.

The demonstrations began over plans to develop on Albania’s protected Vjosa-Narta lagoon and the nearby island of Sazan, a pristine former military base off the country’s southern coast. Environmental activists say the projects threaten sensitive ecosystems, including one of the Mediterranean’s largest flamingo habitats. As a result, the protests have been dubbed the “Flamingo Revolution.”

“The problem is that these kinds of projects are somehow welcomed by our government, which is basically paid by us to protect these areas,” environmental activist Melitjan Nezaj said. “These are protected natural areas, and they should remain that way.”

But demonstrators told MS NOW that the protest movement has broadened to include wider environmental concerns; they view the Kushner-linked development as another example of corruption in a country long plagued by graft allegations. Some Albanians accuse Rama of attempting to strengthen ties with the Trump administration through the high-profile investment.

“This is an unprecedented event in Albanian history,” said Redi Muçi, a member of parliament from the opposition Movement Together party. “So many young people and members of the middle class have come out to protest — not just because of an environmental catastrophe or because land is being taken away from local communities, but because of corruption.”

Muçi said the international attention generated by Kushner’s involvement helped amplify public anger but was not the root cause of the movement.

“It is only the last drop that made the glass overflow. These frustrations have been building for a very long time,” he said. “What makes this movement so significant is that it wasn’t organized in advance. It emerged spontaneously. People of different ideologies and backgrounds have come together because they feel something is fundamentally wrong.”

MS NOW traveled to Sazan — Albania’s only island — which is located a roughly half-hour boat ride from the mainland. One of the last undeveloped islands in the Mediterranean, it remains largely untouched, with crystal-clear waters, dense vegetation and scattered concrete bunkers left behind from its decades as a restricted military zone.

“Greeks have 6,000 islands and treat them like they have one,” former Albanian Navy Lt. Cmdr. Artur Meçollari told MS NOW. “We have one island and we’re treating it like we have 6,000.”

Critics also question whether the island is suitable for large-scale tourism development. Meçollari says winds regularly reach 60 to 90 kph, with gusts exceeding 100 kph. He also estimates that 100 to 120 tons of wartime ammunition may still remain underwater around the island, while parts of the land have yet to be fully cleared of unexploded ordnance.

A promotional video for the development, featuring Ivanka Trump praising the project and describing the island’s natural beauty, has angered many Albanians, who felt outsiders were laying claim to a place they view as part of their national heritage.

“It wasn’t so nice having somebody talk about our own land as if it had just been discovered,” Ujka said. “That was one of the things that really triggered people.”

Protesters now hope sustained pressure will eventually force Rama from office.

But the prime minister has shown no signs of backing down. Rama has defended the project, arguing that it will inject billions of dollars into one of Europe’s poorest countries, creating jobs and transforming the country into a premier Mediterranean tourism destination.

“I think he’s making business for his wallet,” protester Xhuljana Çallikup said of Rama. “I don’t think he cares about us at all, or about our economy, or what this will bring to Albania. I think he’s thinking only about himself.”

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