Albanian PM Pooh-Poohs 'Pink Flamingo' Protesters Opposing Jared Kushner Resorts

原始链接: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/albanian-pm-pooh-poohs-pink-flamingo-protesters-opposing-jared-kushner-resorts

阿尔巴尼亚总理埃迪·拉马（Edi Rama）正因贾里德·库什纳（Jared Kushner）旗下投资公司Affinity Partners支持的两个大型豪华度假村项目，面临强烈的公众抵制。这两个开发项目分别位于生态敏感的萨赞岛（Sazan Island）和维约萨-纳尔塔（Vjosa-Narta）保护区，引发了活动人士持续数周的抗议。抗议者将此次运动称为“火烈鸟革命”，以表达对野生动物栖息地保护的担忧。这些项目总价值高达50亿欧元，拉马将其视为阿尔巴尼亚经济和旅游业转型的机遇。然而，抗议者认为这些建设是对该国自然景观的威胁。拉马将这些示威活动斥为“政治闹剧”和“数字化放大”的歇斯底里。他将动荡归咎于反对派势力和恶意的外国干预，并特别提到了伊朗方面可能参与其中。尽管抗议声不断，但这位总理态度依然坚定，坚称这些项目符合其政府的“2030年阿尔巴尼亚”愿景。他坚持认为，开发项目将在严格的环保和法律标准下进行，并强调在追求加入欧盟的过程中，国家必须优先考虑经济进步和外国投资。

After weeks of daily protests, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is digging in to defend two luxury resort projects backed by Jared Kushner's investment company that have resulted in thousands of people protesting in the streets of the capital Tirana and on the southern coast, where one of the resorts is slated to be built.

The opposition has dubbed itself the "Flamingo Revolution" due to the impact on a protected wetland home to flamingoes, seals, and sea turtle nesting sites - with protesters hoisting inflatable pink birds and signs opposing the projects.The demonstrations began late last month as site preparations began on the Zuvernec peninsula - while Kushner's wife, Ivanka Trump, went on a podcast and discussed plans to develop the island of Sazan.

The resort development he champions is the brainchild of Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, who described falling in love with Albania a few years ago while visiting on a boat. Rama met them on that trip and found them to be "very nice, humble...humanly good people."
Now, Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners is ⁠involved in the €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) project near the Vjosa-Narta protected area, and another one on nearby Sazan Island.
Together the projects are worth up to €5 billion, Rama said. -Reuters

According to Rama, the protesters are not engaging in genuine demonstrations - rather, it's "political theater," he told Bloomberg on Tuesday - claiming that the protests are backed by "an enormous digital amplification ecosystem that is clearly not organic," and has blamed Iran and others due to the fact that Albania is home to 3,000 members of an exiled Iranian opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran.

"Neither a loud minority, joined by every opposition force, nor a wave of digitally amplified outrage fueled by the global fascination with the Trump name attached to what I believe is an extraordinary opportunity for Albania (and further amplified by the interference of malign foreign actors) will divert us from implementing our Albania 2030 Vision," he told the outlet.

"Our standard is clear: law, science, transparency and European obligations - not hysteria," Rama told Bloomberg. "We are opening the country, protecting its natural assets, attracting serious investment and moving steadily toward EU membership."