The morning crackdown

Albanian police deployed tear gas and water cannon against protesters outside the parliament in Tirana on Thursday morning, 23 July 2026. Officers maintained a heavy presence from the early hours as demonstrators attempted to push through security cordons to get closer to the building. Some protesters threw eggs and stones at police, AFP journalists at the scene reported. The health ministry later said six police officers and 11 protesters sustained minor injuries and received treatment at a Tirana hospital.

A months-long campaign

The protests began on 31 May and target a planned luxury resort linked to Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. The complex would sit inside a coastal nature reserve and on an uninhabited island that hosts flamingo colonies. Scientists and activists say preliminary work has already caused damage to a once pristine stretch of coast and destroyed nesting sites of birds and loggerhead turtles, which are threatened with extinction.

Subsidy vote fuels the unrest

The 23 July gathering coincided with a parliamentary session in which lawmakers approved a four-million-euro subsidy ($4.6 million) for a Kanye West concert held in Tirana on 4 July. The vote passed with 80 MPs from the ruling Socialist Party in the 140-seat assembly, according to opposition MP Belind Kellici. Prime Minister Edi Rama had pledged the funding, arguing it was needed to prevent the concert being cancelled.

“It was necessary to prevent the concert being cancelled.”

The subsidy decision further angered a crowd already on the streets for more than a month. Many demonstrators viewed the payout as a provocation delivered while the resort controversy continued.

Environmental and corruption concerns

The resort project has become a flashpoint for complaints about perceived corruption and a lack of government transparency. Protesters have also demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama. No official headcounts exist, but AFP journalists estimate that nightly crowds numbered in the thousands until at least mid-July. Marches have become less frequent since then, though daytime rallies and clashes outside parliament have continued.

Wider backdrop

The protests have drawn international attention both for the Trump family connection and the environmental stakes. The protected area includes flamingo colonies, and the uninhabited island earmarked for development sits inside the same reserve. Previous rallies saw demonstrators pelt lawmakers with eggs and throw flour and eggs at police vehicles outside the prime minister's office.