Albania’s Sazan Island project backed by Trump’s son-in-law draws scrutiny over transparency and political motives
BELGRADE, Serbia, Tirana Times – Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said Serbia has suffered a major economic setback after a company owned by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, withdrew from a planned Trump-branded luxury development in Belgrade, while contrasting the decision with Kushner-linked investment plans moving forward in Albania.
Vučić said the withdrawal by Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, cost Serbia at least €750 million in foreign investment and blamed what he described as a political “witch hunt” by prosecutors, opposition politicians and anti-government protesters. The project was planned on the site of the former Yugoslav Army General Staff headquarters, buildings destroyed during NATO’s 1999 air campaign and later designated as a cultural monument.
The proposed development envisioned a high-end residential and business complex carrying the Trump brand. It faced sustained opposition from heritage experts, civil society groups and opposition parties, who argued that altering the protected status of the site would undermine its historical significance.
Vučić contrasted the failed Belgrade project with Kushner’s investment plans in Albania, saying that ventures linked to the Trump family there including a luxury resort planned on the island of Sazan have advanced with strong political backing and are likely to receive significant international publicity.
“A smaller or weaker project, rushed through in Albania, has received enormous attention and will have excellent promotion, because the entire Trump family will praise it,” Vučić said, adding that Serbia had missed a major opportunity.
Affinity Partners announced its withdrawal on December 15, saying in a statement quoted by The Wall Street Journal that it was stepping aside out of respect for public divisions in Serbia, noting that large projects should unite rather than divide society. The announcement coincided with an indictment by Serbia’s Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office against Culture Minister Nikola Selaković over alleged legal violations linked to the removal of the site’s cultural monument status.
Vučić rejected allegations of corruption and accused prosecutors and long-running anti-government protesters whom he labeled “blockers” of causing direct economic damage to Serbia. He said he would personally file criminal complaints against those he claims undermined the investment.
While Vučić portrayed Albania as a beneficiary of Kushner’s shifting investment focus, the Sazan Island project itself has sparked controversy inside Albania. Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government granted strategic investor status to a Kushner-linked company, Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, in late 2024, just weeks before Trump’s inauguration, despite the absence of a full business plan or feasibility study.
Critics, including economic experts and opposition lawmakers, say the decision was fast-tracked without an open or competitive process and was politically motivated, aimed at securing goodwill from the incoming Trump administration. Analysts warn that approving a project estimated at around €1.4 billion without key documentation raises serious concerns about feasibility, risk management and the protection of public interest.
The Sazan project involves redeveloping a former military island still administered by Albania’s Ministry of Defense. Preparatory requirements include demilitarization, clearance of unexploded ordnance, and the inventory of underground tunnels and bunkers all before a finalized business plan is submitted.
Public intellectuals and opposition figures in Albania have criticized what they describe as the use of strategic national assets for political signaling rather than transparent economic development, while the government has dismissed the claims, saying the procedures followed are lawful and standard.
The contrasting cases in Serbia and Albania highlight how high-profile foreign investments linked to politically connected figures can polarize debate across the Western Balkans, exposing tensions between economic ambition, political calculation and transparency.
Courtesy: Koha; BIRN
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