Albania is the hipster’s holiday choice WINE. It was only a matter of time before a Trump stepped in.
Despite the fact that hundreds of Albanian protesters were dispersed by water cannons, Donald TrumpIvanka’s daughter is reportedly moving ahead with her plans to transform a Cold War-era military base into a luxury island resort.
In an interview this week Ivanka Trump said she stumbled upon Sazan Island — filled with thousands of sprawling nuclear bunkers — “by chance” while vacationing with her husband, Jared Kushner.
“We were on a friend’s boat and we stopped for a swim. That’s actually how we found it,” she said.
“We swam to the island. We went for a walk, barefoot up to the top, and we were just amazed. And it’s stayed with us ever since. To me, it is, it feels more like a challenge than anything else.’
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Where is Carp Island – now called Trump Island?
(Photo: Studio Genesis)
Sazani is Albania’s largest island and is a designated military exclusion zone located in a strategically important location between the Strait of Otranto and the mouth of the Gulf of Vlora.
Beneath the beautiful cliff faces and crystal blue waters lie at least 3,600 Soviet-style nuclear bunkers built during the Cold War.
The 1,400-acre Mediterranean island is also home to at least ten miles of underground tunnels dating back to the communist era.
Other bomb shelters and buildings designed to store military supplies and ammunition are also arranged around the area.
Experts have even warned of the presence of unexploded landmines dotted across the stunning landscape that will need to be cleared – no wonder Trump called it a ‘fixer upper’.
Undaunted, Ivanka revealed: ‘Over many years, we created the opportunity to help realize her potential and transform it, but with great restraint and care.’
She employed some of the ‘greatest living architects’ to make designs blend in with the already dramatic setting, as if the buildings were almost ‘hanging’ from the ground.
(Photo: Studio Genesis)
Albanian anger
But Ivanka’s venture has drawn opposition from environmental activists and critics of Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.
The couple also hopes to carry out a multibillion-dollar project that involves building hotels along the coast of Zvrnec, where wildlife such as flamingos and sea turtles nest.
Since late May, barbed wire has been erected to keep protesters from excavators and other heavy machinery coming down from the pines.
Activists have clashed with the police in the country, hanging signs such as “Albania is not for sale”, “Hands off the Albanian land” and “Sazani is not a private island, it belongs to the Albanian people”.
“From start to finish there has been a total lack of transparency,” Aleksandër Trajçe, executive director of the main conservation group in the country, Protection and Conservation of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), told The Guardian.
“We haven’t seen any public consultation or public documentation about the permits, and now what we’re saying is, if they remove the bulldozers, remove the fence and restore the habitats to what they were, then we can start talking.
The head of the Albanian opposition, Sali Berisha, said that while he supports the renovation projects, he EXPRESS concerns that Rama might have ‘sought to buy political influence’ from Trump.
But Rama insists that the plans are in line with Albania’s ambition to become a global giant tourism destination.
“Albania should not be a country that is afraid of an extraordinary project like this, where extraordinary partners have come together to invest 4 billion euros”, said Rama.
“There is absolutely no chance that investment will stop as long as I’m here,” he said.
But after the reaction, Rama insisted: “There is still no project.
“There is no such thing as a Trump family island.
“There is no such thing as the US president’s family taking over protected areas where flamingos will be killed by them.”
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