The European Commission has urged Albania to take immediate steps to align with EU environmental legislation if it wants to join the bloc, a Commission spokesman said today, commenting on a planned luxury resort backed by Kouchner.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an interview with Reuters on Monday that his country would press ahead with a luxury resort planned on a remote part of the Balkan coast by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, despite protests over its environmental impact.
The protests, dubbed the Flamingo Revolution because the stretch of coast is a stopover on the migratory route for the birds, have grown into a broader opposition to aspects of Rama's thirteen-year rule.
The EU, which has 27 members, has said it could admit new members by 2030, including Montenegro, Albania and Ukraine, but that this depends on compliance with EU laws, including those relating to the environment.
"Albania should refrain from any moves that could jeopardize the fulfillment of the final benchmark, and we expect the Albanian authorities to act without delay," said spokesman Guillaume Mercier.
"We are in contact with the Albanian authorities regarding this issue," he added.
Faced with protests over the past week in Tirana and on the southern coast, where the construction of a resort is proposed, Rama downplayed environmental concerns and said an environmental impact assessment would be completed.
"We are very proud of what we have done for wildlife in Albania. The European Commission has no reason to doubt our strong will to protect everything that needs to be protected when it comes to wildlife and nature," he said.
Jared Kushner's company Afiniti Partners, which is supposed to build the resort, did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
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