PM says coastal protest targets unfinished project

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has said protests against a planned development in Zvërnec, a coastal village near the city of Vlora, are targeting a project that has not yet been finalised.

Rama spoke on Tuesday during a briefing with European Union journalists, after public anger over the development and the treatment of protesters.

He said the protest was triggered by a security guard’s assault on a demonstrator near land linked to the proposed project.

Rama said the guard had been arrested, Vlora’s police chief had been dismissed, officers at the scene were under investigation and the private security company had lost its licence.

He said the incident had opened wider questions about the land, the development and the project itself.

But Rama said calls to cancel the project were misplaced because, according to him, “there is no project”.

Zvërnec, on Albania’s southern coast, has drawn public attention because of concerns over tourism development, land use and access to coastal areas.