Velika Plaza, a pristine 13-kilometre stretch of sand on Montenegro's Adriatic coast, has long been hailed as a national treasure. But following a controversial agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it has become the latest battleground in a growing backlash against foreign-backed development deals across the Western Balkans.

Earlier this month, Montenegro’s parliament ratified two agreements with the UAE on economic cooperation and real estate development. The move paves the way for UAE-based real estate giant Eagle Hills to develop Velika Plaza into a large-scale tourism complex. The government touts the deal as a potential catalyst for billions of euros in foreign investment – but environmental groups and citizens see it as a land grab that threatens the country’s natural resources and democratic accountability.

“New investments … will ensure economic growth, and economic growth will contribute to significantly higher salaries and better jobs for our descendants, as well as higher state revenues, which will thus improve healthcare, education, roads, security, etc. By ratifying the agreement on economic cooperation with the UAE, Montenegro … gets a CHANCE to develop projects in the field of tourism, energy, infrastructure, IT and thus secure large investments,” Prime Minister Milojko Spajic posted on X following a vote in parliament on the agreements. He also announced on April 23 that the IFC, part of the World Bank Group, will help draw up an intergovernmental energy agreement with the UAE, and technically and financially support all projects that Montenegro and the UAE agree on, including in the tourism sector.

Yet the deals sparked a series of protests in the coastal town of Ulcinj, followed by a demonstration outside the parliament in Podgorica, where demonstrators waved placards and chanted slogans denouncing the perceived lack of transparency.

The initiative to develop Velika Plaza is being spearheaded by Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Eagle Hills and Emaar Properties. Alabbar’s firms are already well known in the Balkans for ambitious developments such as the Belgrade Waterfront project in neighbouring Serbia. But critics argue that these flashy schemes come with hidden costs: opaque dealmaking, legal exemptions for investors and a disregard for community voices.

"This is an attempt to push through a multi-billion dollar agreement without public debate, without transparency and with a violation of legal procedures, which could have serious consequences for the public interest and natural resources of Montenegro," the protest group Big Beach or Big Lie said in a statement quoted by public broadcaster RTCG.

President Jakov Milatovic, whose relationship with Spajic’s government has deteriorated recently, has emerged as a vocal opponent of the deal. He claims the agreements would breach multiple Montenegrin laws and bypass critical oversight mechanisms. The government's request to parliament to vote on them is “frivolous”, Milatovic argued during a meeting with Genci Nimanbegu, head of the Ulcinj municipality, reported RTCV. He has written to the European Commission seeking clarity on whether the agreements align with EU regulations.

Nimanbegu warned that MPs who support the deal risk becoming "enemies of Ulcinj”. The local government fears that Velika Plaza will be turned over to developers without adequate safeguards or benefits for the community. There is also an ethnic dimension to the dispute; around 75% of Ulcinj’s population are Albanians. 

Despite the backlash, supporters within the ruling Europe Now (PES) party argue that the deal is a rare opportunity. "Montenegro is more than ready for new investments, new jobs and a better standard of living," said PES leadership member Filip Radulovic, as quoted by RTCG. “The agreement with the UAE confirms the determination of the government to valorise tourist potential in cooperation with credible partners.”

The Velika Plaza project echoes earlier UAE-led ventures in the region. In the most controversial of these, Eagle Hills previously launched the $3bn Belgrade Waterfront development on the banks of the river Sava in the Serbian capital. There was a contentious start to the project when masked men demolished buildings in the Savamala district under the cover of night in 2016, prompting more than a year of protests under the banner of "Don’t Drown Belgrade”, symbolised by a yellow duck. 

Other major investments in the region include UAE-based Emaar’s plans to develop the port of Durres on the Albanian coast. The project, with a reported price tag of €2bn, was revealed in 2021 when Prime Minister Edi Rama said one of the “largest and most beautiful tourist ports of the Mediterranean”. However, the opposition Democratic Party has challenged the project; in the latest development the party’s lawsuit was rejected by Albania’s Constitutional Court in February. 

In all three countries, a criticism levelled against their governments’ dealings with UAE investors is that mega-deals are commonly struck behind closed doors, without competitive tenders, and often include generous incentives for the investors.

Since the 2010s, the UAE has shifted from post-war foreign aid to long-term business investments in the Balkans. Firms from the UAE, which also target other global regions, are particularly focused on real estate and infrastructure projects. Some other examples include Emaar Properties’ investment in Albania’s Kukes airport; resort and super-yacht harbour Porto Montenegro, which is owned and operated by Adriatic Marinas, a subsidiary of the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), in turn the principal investment arm of the government of Dubai; Dubai-based Buroj International Group’s planned Buroj Ozone mountain tourist city in Bosnia & Herzegovina; and Eagle Hills’ purchase of the Suncani Hvar portfolio of hotels on Croatia’s Hvar Island.

While the investments do not carry the overt geopolitical implications of those from China or Russia, concerns have been raised about their transparency.

These deals are frequently negotiated at the highest political levels, bypassing conventional oversight channels. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in particular has cultivated close ties with Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. Critics say this style of governance risks eroding institutional checks and balances. Montenegrin anti-corruption NGO network MANS, for example, warned in March the country’s government “commits to adapting Montenegrin legislation to the needs of selected projects, i.e., the interests of their investors”. MANS also raised concerns about the potential for money laundering, arguing that “the UAE very rarely cooperates with international institutions and other countries when it comes to preventing money laundering”. 

In Montenegro, protesters say the Velika Plaza agreement is emblematic of broader systemic failings. One of the leaders of the European Alliance, Ivan Vujovic, accused the government of repeating bad practices from the past. "It introduces an even worse practice, characterised by ignoring the local community, the absence of a wider public debate, and speeding up the parliamentary procedure,” Vujovic added. 

The stakes are especially high given the symbolic importance of Velika Plaza. Spajic and other officials have stressed the benefits of large-scale investment for the small country’s economy. Environmentalists, meanwhile, fear that mass tourism infrastructure could irreparably damage the unique ecosystem of the beach and surrounding wetlands, but it is the lack of transparency that has drawn most protesters out on the streets.