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Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić declared on December 11 that he would pardon all those who may be charged in connection with the removal of the cultural monument status of the General Staff complex in Belgrade. According to him, any responsibility lies with him personally.
"I will not give them the opportunity to prosecute those who are innocent. I am guilty."
"I am the one who wanted the modernization of Serbia. I am the one who wanted to bring in a big investor," Vučić said during a press conference in Niš, after visiting the Palfinger factory.
Trump's son-in-law's project in Serbia
The General Staff complex, destroyed by NATO bombing in 1999, is set to be transformed into a modern luxury mall by the investment company Affinity Partners, led by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. Such projects have sparked widespread debate in Serbia, particularly over the removal of the cultural protection of the facility.
The Serbian government has created a joint venture with a property development company owned by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to develop a hotel complex in Belgrade, giving Serbia until May next year to demolish existing buildings, according to leaked documents.
Independent Serbian magazine Radar published what appears to be a 2024 investment agreement, which gives Kushner's company, Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, a 77.5% stake in the joint venture, while the Serbian government holds 22.5%.
The joint company was created to rebuild the territory where the headquarters of the Serbian armed forces in Belgrade were located, bombed by NATO in 1999. The plan has sparked protests in the city center.
The Serbian government has not denied the authenticity of the published documents. Although the agreement dates back to February 2024, it has been kept secret and became a hot topic only last week, after the Serbian National Assembly passed a special law to accelerate the development of the area as a “project of importance for the Republic of Serbia.”
The new law allows the government to bypass regulatory scrutiny, which had suspended the project's progress in May, pending an investigation to verify whether the documentation that removed the building's protected cultural status was falsified.
Under the agreement, published by Radar, the Serbian state was required to remove the complex’s cultural status and complete the demolition of the existing buildings “in a manner satisfactory to” Kushner’s company Atlantic Incubation. If Serbia fails to meet a May deadline next year to prepare the site for construction, the American company could terminate the contract “at its discretion” and seek a significant amount in termination costs, according to the published document.
The agreement provides for a free lease of the land for 99 years, with the possibility of this lease being converted into full ownership.
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