The European Parliament on Wednesday adopted its report on Albania, backing an amendment that raises concerns over the impact of the Strategic Investments Law and amendments to the Law on Protected Areas, while rejecting a more strongly worded version that included direct references to the tourism project on Sazan Island and the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area.
The amendment approved by MEPs, and later published by Prime Minister Edi Rama on Facebook, states:
“46a. Expresses serious concern that ongoing developments within the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area demonstrate the practical consequences of these legislative changes and the risks they pose to areas of recognized ecological value; closely follows the large-scale peaceful protests taking place in this regard; calls on the Albanian authorities to immediately impose a moratorium on all new permitting procedures, construction works, and development interventions within protected areas until the incompatible provisions of the amended Law on Protected Areas are repealed, in line with a long-standing request from the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as the closing benchmarks of Chapter 27, and until full compliance with EU nature protection standards is ensured; stresses that any project in this area should be subject to comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessments fully in line with EU standards, including a transparent public participation process involving local communities, scientists, and civil society.”
At the same time, the adopted text calls for the repeal of the 2024 amendments to Albania’s Law on Protected Areas, arguing that they allow large-scale tourism infrastructure developments within protected areas and transfer key decision-making powers to the National Territorial Council, thereby weakening environmental oversight and control.
However, MEPs did not support an alternative amendment that contained much more specific references to concrete projects and recent developments in Albania.
In addition to criticizing the Strategic Investments Law and the amendments to the Law on Protected Areas, the rejected amendment also expressed concern over the Albanian government’s agreement with Jared Kushner’s company, Affinity Partners, to develop a luxury tourism project on Sazan Island and within the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area.
The rejected text stated:
“Expresses deep regret that Albania’s 2015 Strategic Investments Law has been extended, given its provisions enabling accelerated permitting procedures and reduced environmental scrutiny, which risk negatively affecting protected areas and other environmentally sensitive sites; calls for the repeal of the 2024 amendments to the Law on Protected Areas, which allow large-scale tourism infrastructure development within protected areas and transfer key governance and decision-making powers to the National Territorial Council, thereby weakening environmental oversight; expresses concerns regarding the government’s agreement with Jared Kushner’s company, Affinity Partners, to develop a luxury tourism project on Sazan Island and in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area; calls for support for the anti-corruption investigation currently being conducted by SPAK in this context; and calls for the right to peaceful protest to be guaranteed against suppression by private security companies, as occurred during clashes at the end of May 2026.”
The rejected amendment also called for support for the anti-corruption investigation currently being carried out by SPAK and for guarantees of the right to peaceful protest, referring to clashes that took place in late May 2026 between protesters and private security companies.
The vote in the European Parliament indicates that a majority of MEPs opted to maintain a more general formulation regarding environmental and legal concerns related to strategic investments in Albania, without including direct references to the Sazan project, Affinity Partners, the SPAK investigation, or recent protest-related incidents.
In practice, this means that the European Parliament’s criticism of the legal framework governing strategic investments and the management of protected areas remains part of the report on Albania, while allegations and concerns specifically related to the Sazan project and recent developments surrounding it were not included in the final adopted text.
The post “Moratorium on Protected Areas” – What the European Parliament Approved Regarding Amendments on Zvërnec and Sazan appeared first on Euronews Albania.
