Plans for a major luxury hotel development in Belgrade, Serbia, linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US President Donald Trump, have been officially abandoned. The project's collapse has sparked a political storm, with Serbia's President blaming a 'witch hunt' for driving away the investors.
Project Scrapped Amid Allegations and Public Outcry
On Tuesday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that the ambitious plan to build a hotel on the site of the bombed-out former Yugoslav army headquarters was dead. The investment firm behind the project, Affinity Partners, which is associated with Kushner, confirmed its withdrawal in a statement.
The firm, based in Miami, stated it was pulling out 'out of respect for the people of Serbia and the City of Belgrade'. It added that meaningful projects should unite rather than divide. This decision comes after months of intense controversy surrounding the development.
The project, valued at at least 750 million euros (approximately $880 million), had been mired in corruption allegations. It was revealed that the removal of the site's protected cultural-heritage status, a crucial step for the development, was based on a forged document. This led to the indictment of Serbian Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and three others for alleged abuse of office and forgery.
A Site of Contention: Modernist Ruins and NATO Bombing Memory
The proposed hotel site is highly sensitive. The brutalist building complex, completed in 1965, was designed as an homage to a key World War II battle site. It was granted protected status in 2005.
However, the buildings have stood as ruins since being repeatedly bombed by NATO in 1999 during the Kosovo war. For many citizens, the ruins are both an important piece of modernist architecture and a stark memorial to the bombing campaign.
The allegations of forgery re-ignited public protests. Demonstrators argued for the preservation of the ruins as a historical monument, leading to widespread opposition against transforming the site into a commercial hotel venture.
Political Fallout and a Stalled Vision
President Vucic, who has faced over a year of anti-government protests, placed the blame squarely on critics. He accused them of conducting a witch hunt 'against the investor, and against any kind of change'. He also criticized the investigation into the development and promised retribution against those he claimed ruined the deal.
'We will now be left with a destroyed building,' Vucic lamented, warning that the structure would continue to decay. Affinity Partners had signed a 99-year land deal with the Serbian government last year, shortly after the site's protected status was revoked.
The firm's vision involved constructing two glowing towers, which Kushner himself had shared on social media. A spokesman described the plan as an 'elegant, uplifting design that honoured Serbia's progress'. With the firm's withdrawal, that vision is now permanently stalled, leaving the future of the iconic Belgrade ruins uncertain.
