"Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic has long been accused of exercising total control over the Western Balkan country. Now he has embarked on a new field of activity: He has declared that he will personally file criminal charges against all those he accuses of the "economic sabotage of Serbia." This was prompted by news from the United States that Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and close confidant of US President Donald Trump, has canceled a huge, much-vaunted planned investment in Belgrade."
"Kushner proposed redeveloping the site of the Yugoslavian army's former General Staff building and replacing it with luxury apartments, a hotel and a casino. The Serbian government had backed the project and offered him a 99-year lease. The building, which was the military and defense headquarters of the former Yugoslavia, was badly damaged by NATO air strikes during the Kosovo war in 1999."
"Consequently, there were huge protests about the planned redevelopment. Critics of the project also suspected corruption. "Because meaningful projects should unite rather than divide, and out of respect for the people of Serbia and the City of Belgrade, we are withdrawing our application and stepping aside at this time," a spokesman for Kushner's company Affinity Partners said on Monday (15.12.2025)."
President Aleksandar Vucic announced he will personally file criminal charges against individuals he accuses of "economic sabotage of Serbia." The announcement followed Jared Kushner's cancellation of a planned redevelopment of the former Yugoslav General Staff building into luxury apartments, a hotel and a casino. The Serbian government had supported the project and offered a 99-year lease. The General Staff building is a monument to Yugoslav modernist architecture and a symbolic memorial damaged by NATO air strikes in 1999, which sparked large protests and corruption suspicions. Kushner's company withdrew its application, and the public prosecutor filed indictments against culture minister Nikola Selakovic and three officials for removing the building's cultural heritage status, prompting an angry reaction from Vucic.
Read at www.dw.com
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