Jared Kushner had planned the redevelopment of a Belgrade site bombed by NATO in 1999
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has withdrawn from a planned luxury hotel project tied to redeveloping a site in Serbia bombed by NATO in 1999, according to media reports.
The move follows a prosecutor’s filing on Monday to indict senior Serbian officials over the removal of cultural-protection status from the former Yugoslav army headquarters complex in central Belgrade, which had been earmarked for the development.
Last year, Serbia’s government approved a long-term lease deal with Kushner-linked Affinity Global Development to redevelop the site into a complex expected to include a hotel, apartments, offices, and shops, despite sustained public opposition.
A spokesperson for Affinity Partners was quoted by the New York Times as saying that the firm was stepping away because it did not want the project to deepen divisions and that it was doing so out of respect for Serbia and its capital.
According to Reuters, the public prosecutor for organized crime filed an indictment against Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic, a ministry official, and the head of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, accusing them of abuse of power and forgery linked to lifting the site’s protected status. Selakovic has denied any wrongdoing. There was reportedly no indication of wrongdoing by Kushner or his company.
The location is part of the General Staff complex, a former Yugoslav army headquarters heavily damaged during NATO’s 78-day bombing of Serbia and Montenegro over the Kosovo conflict. Human Rights Watch has estimated that around 500 civilians were killed, and the campaign was carried out without UN Security Council authorization.
Opposition parties have criticized the half-billion-dollar project, while President Aleksandar Vucic and his government have defended it as a move to modernize the capital. On Tuesday, Vucic told reporters that Serbia had “lost an exceptional investment” and vowed to hold those responsible to account.
Read the full article here