DUA LIPA BACKS ALBANIA PROTESTS AGAINST TRUMP-BACKED RESORT

Dua Lipa has expressed support for demonstrations in Albania against a luxury development project linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. The singer, who has Kosovan-Albanian parents, described protests against the scheme as "inspiring" during an appearance on her Service95 Book Club podcast. Demonstrations have continued for more than six weeks in the capital Tirana, with tens of thousands marching against the construction project in the country's south, referred to as Albania's "Flamingo Revolution". The Albanian parliament fast-tracked the business project in December 2024 by amending legislation governing construction on environmentally sensitive areas.

The development encompasses a 1,400-acre site on the abandoned island of Sazan, Albania's only island, alongside a separate agreement for 10,000 villas on the Zvernec peninsula valued at $4.7 billion. The Sazan peninsula sits within the Vjosa-Narta Delta, recognised as one of Europe's most important coastal ecosystems and home to 70 endangered species including monk seals, loggerhead sea turtles, migratory birds, flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans. Environmental organisations have reported that bulldozers were brought onto the Zvernec Peninsula site before proper permits were obtained or an environmental impact assessment completed, with a barbed wire fence subsequently erected. Lipa stated on the podcast: "What I actually find concerning is the principle that the government could just change the law to remove the environmental protection without any kind of public consultation."

Albania's government maintains the development will prove transformative for the country, aiming to boost tourism and strengthen its bid for European Union membership. Ivanka Trump revealed in a podcast appearance at the end of May that she and her husband were developing a real estate project "on a massive scale" involving "some of the greatest living architects of our time".