British singer of Kosovar origin Dua Lipa welcomed the protests in Albania against a tourist complex linked to the Trump family, calling the movement “inspiring”, in a podcast broadcast on Tuesday.
Every day since the end of May, demonstrators have taken to the streets in Tirana to protest against the construction by the daughter of US President Donald Trump, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, of a luxury hotel complex in the area of a nature reserve on the Albanian coast.
Speaking on her Service95 Book Club podcast alongside Albanian writer Lea Ypi, Dua Lipa said she shared the concerns expressed by the protests about the government’s transparency in approving the real estate project.
“What really concerns me is the principle that the government was able to simply change the law to circumvent environmental protections without any public consultation,” said the 30-year-old pop star, whose parents are Kosovo Albanian and who is very attached to this Balkan region. “I find it very inspiring to see how concerned people are,” she added, referring to the daily gatherings.
The singer believed that the problem was structural in nature and that it was necessary to act according to a “supported by the population” model. The tourist complex project, valued at 4.6 billion dollars (4 billion euros), was presented for the first time in 2024, but the wave of protests started after the installation in May of barbed wire fences and the arrival of bulldozers on a beach targeted by the project. This movement has become a catalyst for anger against supposed corruption in the country. The demonstrators also demand the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Dua Lipa’s remarks were welcomed by Albanian environmental activist Besjana Guri, who read it as a “strong message” addressed to the Albanian government. “I am convinced that his voice will help to attract more international attention to this fight and to amplify the concerns of the people demonstrating in Tirana,” she told AFP.
