Thousands of protesters in Belgrade have voiced opposition to plans to turn a historic military building into a luxury complex by an investment company linked to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Thousands of people gathered in Belgrade on Tuesday outside the former headquarters of the Yugoslav army to protest against a new law that allows to speed up its transformation into a luxury complex of an investment company founded by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
- Thousands of people protested against the transformation of the army building.
- The law speeds up procedures for Jared Kushner’s investment firm.
- The army building symbolizes the victims of the Yugoslav conflict.
As reported by the Reuters agency, which TASR drew on, this gathering was part of a series of protests that have been taking place in Serbia for more than a year and are directed against the government of President Aleksandar Vučić. Their immediate impulse was last year’s tragedy in Novi Sad, where 16 people died after the collapse of the concrete superstructure above the entrance to the railway station.
The new law and its scope
The law was adopted by the Serbian parliament last Friday (November 7). Thanks to it, administrative procedures will be accelerated for Affinity Global Development, which is owned by Kushner and is to build a hotel, apartments, shops and offices on the site of the former military headquarters.
Some opposition MPs claim that the adopted law is unconstitutional. However, the majority of the government approved it without comments and called it important for maintaining good relations with the USA.
Symbol of the victims of the conflict
Many residents of Belgrade perceive the army building, damaged during the bombing by the NATO alliance in 1999, as a symbol of the victims of the conflict and an important monument of Yugoslav modern architecture.
According to the protesters, the approved law seeks to “ingratiate and curry favor with Trump”, which they say could subsequently lead to the lifting of sanctions against Naftna industrija Srbije (NIS), the only Russian-owned Serbian refinery subject to US sanctions.
In 2022, the private investment firm Affinity Partners, founded by Kushner, received a free 99-year lease from the Serbian government for the land intended for the construction of the aforementioned hotel complex in Belgrade.
One of Affinity’s partners in the project is Eagle Hills of the United Arab Emirates, which has been linked to the redevelopment of much of Belgrade’s waterfront, a project that sparked public outrage in 2016.
