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Thousands of people have protested against a plan to tear down a former army headquarters in the Serbian capital Belgrade to make way for a luxury hotel complex, as part of a project linked to US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The rally added to a spate of anti-government protests putting pressure on president Aleksandar Vucic triggered by the collapse a year ago of a railway station roof that killed 16 people.
Serbian lawmakers passed legislation on Friday that would allow faster administrative procedures for Kushner’s Affinity Global Development firm to build the hotel, apartments, shops and offices on the site of the former Yugoslav army headquarters.
Many Serbs see the old headquarters, which were damaged in a 1999 Nato bombing campaign during the Kosovo conflict, as a tribute to those who died and a monument to Yugoslav-era modernist architecture, and they opposed the signing of a 99-year lease deal with Affinity Global Development last year.
“We came here to raise our voice against the law,” said Teodora Smiljanic, a 48-year-old protester. “By passing this law he [Vucic] is aiming to please Trump and curry favour.”
Some opposition politicians argued that the legislation was unconstitutional but the governing majority approved it without amendments, saying it was crucial for good ties with the US.
Despite protests, Vucic’s government last November stripped the old army compound of its protected cultural heritage status.
“We are giving the land, and they are providing an investment of at least 650, euros ($753m), a huge investment for our country,” he told pro-government broadcaster Pink TV, stressing it was not a sale but a long-term lease.
“This will increase the value of everything in Belgrade, further attract tourists … it will be worth over one billion euros right away.”
Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, set up Affinity Global Development after stepping down from his job as a White House aide in 2021. Kushner’s wider investment holding, Affinity Partners, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
