Ina Zhupa calls for annulment of law 21/2024: Narco-euros have infiltrated strategic investments, concreting over the country

Democratic Party MP Ina Zhupa has denounced that drug trafficking money has penetrated strategic investments, resulting in the concreting and degradation of Albanian territory. In her speech during the meeting of the Stabilisation and Association Committee between Albania and the EU, Zhupa stressed that the concept of “excellence tourism” served as a justification for the adoption of law 21/2024 on protected areas, which allows unrestricted construction, with a single authorisation from the National Territorial Council, in practice from Edi Rama.

According to her, this law has severely damaged the constitutional foundations of environmental protection and has paved the way for a wave of intensive tourist construction within protected areas, weakening environmental oversight and control. Zhupa pointed out that, for the first time, a report by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has explicitly called for the annulment of the 2024 amendments to the law “On Protected Areas”.

Point 46 of this report highlights that the amendments “allow large-scale tourist infrastructure development within protected areas and transfer key governance and decision-making powers to the National Territorial Council, thus weakening environmental oversight”. This stance of European institutions, according to the MP, confirms that the law conflicts with public interest, the protection of natural assets, and Albania’s obligations on the path to integration.

Zhupa went on to warn that while the European Union is strengthening directives on biodiversity and sustainable development, the Albanian government is moving in the opposite direction, liberalising construction and favouring clientelist circles at the expense of nature. She informed that on May 14, 2026, following the publication of the EU report, she submitted an initiative for the annulment of the law, a request that coincides with that of the protesters who have been in the square for 111 days. However, the majority has not yet put it on the agenda.

The MP predicted that this initiative will be examined in the coming days, but added that the head of the majority parliamentary group, Mr. Balla, has already declared that they will vote against the annulment, despite the EU’s request. The interest behind this stance, according to her, is obvious: it concerns the promises and projects given by the prime minister in protected areas such as Zvërneci, Karavastaja, Dajti, and Butrinti.

Ms. Zhupa described the prime minister as the only leader in the world who has published a book with his and his chosen clients’ plan for constructions in the country, with dozens of projects located in protected areas. She referred to the book “The Albanian Files”, which displays 523 projects, of which 57 have been completed, 53 are under construction, 47 are awaiting permits, and the fate of many others is unknown, encompassing millions of square meters of construction from north to south.

In 41% of these projects, the ordering party remains anonymous, breaching the standards of transparency, accountability, and public consultation required by the European Union. The Law on Strategic Investments, which was promoted as an engine for capital and serious investors, has resulted in millions of square meters of land and constructions with astronomical values, with about 5.8 million m² of land allocated solely for strategic projects.

The MP provided several concrete examples. For Zvërneci, she mentioned the case of Artur Shehu, under investigation by SPAK on suspicions related to drug trafficking and money laundering, allegations he denies, while the company linked to the development there, “Zvërnec South Adriatic Development”, had an initial capital of only 5 million lek. For the project “Drymades Beach Resort – Blue Bay”, an investigation by INA showed that the company had only 100 lek in cash capital, while the project value was 6.3 million euros and the guaranteed financing was 800,000 euros.

For “Marina Hills – Finsec Development”, the company was founded with 1.2 million lek in capital for a declared project worth 450 million euros, with a financing confirmation for 160 million euros, leaving an inexplicable gap. Zhupa concluded that this mechanism has been used to inject money of suspicious origin into the economy, turning the problem from a merely legal issue into a problem of the economic model of the narco-state. She warned that the European Union will not support corrupt affairs and narco-euros masked behind the claim of tourism development and the integration process.