Jared Kushner and the Controversial Albanian Property Development Deal

Jared Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners is backing a €1.4 billion luxury resort project on Albania's Sazan Island that has sparked nationwide protests. Kushner is a businessman and former White House senior adviser to Donald Trump, now serving as Special Envoy for Peace. The deal has drawn opposition from environmental groups concerned about ecosystem damage and lack of investor transparency.
Jared Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners has become the center of controversy in Albania after backing a €1.4 billion luxury tourism development on Sazan Island featuring hotels, villas, apartments, and a marina. The project has triggered nationwide protests from environmental groups and local campaigners who argue it threatens sensitive ecosystems and lacks sufficient transparency regarding investor involvement. Kushner, born in 1981 to a wealthy New Jersey real estate family, graduated from Harvard and earned joint law and business degrees from NYU before expanding his family's real estate empire and purchasing the New York Observer in 2006. He joined the White House as senior adviser following Trump's 2016 election victory, working on criminal justice reform, trade policy, government modernization, and Middle East diplomacy, and was notably involved in the Abraham Accords normalizing Israeli-Arab relations. In February 2026, Trump formally appointed him Special Envoy for Peace, and his firm Affinity Partners has received substantial backing from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
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Who is Jared Kushner - the man funding Albania's controversial property deal?
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Who is Jared Kushner?
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