Albania protests against Trump-linked development turn violent after 100th day

Tirana, Albania - Police officers clashed with protesters outside parliament on Tuesday, as lawmakers returned from their summer recess amid ongoing demonstrations against a Trump-linked tourism project. Several hundred protesters gathered outside the National Assembly, attempting to break through police lines as lawmakers exited the building, according to an AFP journalist.

Some protesters hurled eggs, tomatoes, and bottles at the vehicles of lawmakers passing through a police-controlled corridor. The number of arrests was not disclosed, but demonstrators who later arrived at a police station claimed around 20 individuals were detained.

This marked the 101st day of protests against the luxury hotel project, situated in a protected coastal nature reserve and on an uninhabited island. The construction has already inflicted irreversible harm to a pristine stretch of Albania's coastline and obliterated habitats for birds and loggerhead turtles, which are endangered species, according to scientists and activists.

Protesters, waving Albanian flags and carrying cardboard flamingos – the emblem of the campaign, reiterated their demand for the repeal of a protected areas law they claim was tailored to benefit the investor, linked to US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner.