00:00Twenty-six years ago, Philippe Bayou, an Albanian migrant living and working in Greece,
00:05opened one of the first restaurants in his native Svernets,
00:08a coastal community in southern Albania near the city of Vlora.
00:12Bayou's village and the nearby island of Sazan recently made international headlines
00:18when it was announced that Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump,
00:23and her husband Jared Kushner planned to build luxury resorts in both places.
00:33The American couple first discovered Svernets and Sazan at the height of Albania's tourism boom in 2024.
00:40They see the country's coastline as a promising destination for high-end tourism.
00:45A year later, the Albanian government granted the project strategic investment status, sparking heated public debate.
00:52Then, in late January 2026, Ivanka Trump returned to Sazan and Svernets,
00:57accompanied by dozens of international architects.
01:01Business owners like Philippe Bayou hope the investments will spur development,
01:05particularly in terms of the area's drinking water supply, where residents have been relying on bottled water.
01:11They don't know that it's still late.
01:14If there are a lot of plants, it will be better.
01:17But we expect that there will be a lot of water.
01:20They have a lot of water.
01:22The roads can be more than ever.
01:24The tourists will be more than ever.
01:27The tourists will be more than ever.
01:28Even Ivanka has made a statement in our village that has been able to do all the land.
01:33Environmentalists have called for the suspension of the projects, which would be situated in a protected area of unique biodiversity.
01:40Even some economists are skeptical.
01:42The island of Sazan is situated some 8.5 kilometers across the sea from Svernets.
02:06Experts say that over the centuries, the island has been coveted by a number of naval powers,
02:11including the Italians, the British, the Turks, the Greeks, and the Russians.
02:17When we talk about the strategic strategies of Albania in the Balkan and in the Adriatic,
02:22or even in the Mezde, we will understand that the whole village,
02:26which is a complex geological geography that includes Sazan, Karaburun,
02:32the village and the Zvernets,
02:34that is the center of the gravity of the strategic strategies of Albania.
02:39The ultra-exclusive projects, estimated to be worth $1.4 billion,
02:44will be managed by the high-end Amman Resorts.
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03:50will begin, their association with the Trump name
03:53has already drawn global attention to the Albanian coast.
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