Albanian police use tear gas at protest over Trump-linked resort plan

Albanian police used tear gas and water cannon outside parliament on 23 July 2026 during protests against a tourism project linked to the Trump family.

Protests have been held since late May against the planned construction of a luxury hotel linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner in a nature reserve on Albania's coast. In recent weeks, some gatherings outside parliament in Tirana have included clashes with police, with demonstrators trying to throw eggs at lawmakers.

Police had a heavy presence from early morning on Thursday. They used water cannon and tear gas when protesters tried to push through security cordons to get closer to parliament.

The latest protest took place as parliament was expected to approve a 4 million euro, or $4.6 million, subsidy for a Kanye West concert held in Tirana earlier in July. Prime Minister Edi Rama had pledged the funding and said it was needed to stop the concert from being cancelled.

The subsidy added to anger among protesters who had already been demonstrating for more than a month over the resort plan. The project, planned in a protected area and on a nearby uninhabited island, has become a focus for concerns about perceived corruption, lack of government transparency and environmental harm.

No official crowd counts have been released for the nightly protests. AFP journalists at the demonstrations estimated that crowds numbered in the thousands until at least mid-July.