Serbian protesters vow to prevent real estate project linked to Trump
son-in-law Kushner
[November 12, 2025] By
JOVANA GEC
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of protesters in Serbia symbolically
formed a human shield Tuesday around a bombed-out military complex,
vowing to protect it from redevelopment as a luxury compound by a
company linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared
Kushner.
Youth-led protesters drew a red line as they encircled the sprawling
buildings in the capital, Belgrade that were partially destroyed in a
1999 NATO bombing campaign. The site faces demolition and redevelopment
under a plan backed by the populist government of President Aleksandar
Vucic.
The $500-million project to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops
at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad,
as well as the Serbian public. But last week Serbian lawmakers passed a
special law clearing the way for the construction despite legal hurdles.
Vucic’s pro-Trump government says the project would boost the economy
and ties with the U.S. administration, which has imposed tariffs of 35%
on imports from Serbia. It has also sanctioned Serbia's monopoly oil
supplier, which is controlled by Russia.
However, critics say the building is an architectural monument, seen as
a symbol of resistance to the U.S.-led NATO bombing that remains widely
viewed in the Balkan country as an unjust “aggression.”
Serbia’s government last year stripped the complex of protected status
and signed a 99-year-lease agreement with Kushner-related Affinity
Global Development in the U.S. But the redevelopment project came into
question after Serbia’s organized crime prosecutors launched an
investigation into whether documents used to remove that status were
forged.
The buildings are seen as prime examples of mid-20th century
architecture in the former Yugoslavia. The protesters demanded that the
protected heritage status for the complex be restored, and the buildings
rebuilt.
[to top of second column] |
People hold a banner that reads: "We do not give army headquarters"
during a protest in front of a military complex that was partially
destroyed in a NATO bombing campaign in 1999, after Serbian
lawmakers on Friday passed a special law clearing the way for a
controversial real estate project that would be financed by an
investment company linked to President Trump's son-in-law Jared
Kushner, in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko
Vojinovic)
 “This is a warning that we will all
defend these buildings together,” one of the students said. “We will
be the human shield.”
The issue has become the latest flashpoint in yearlong street
protests that have shaken Vucic's firm grip on power. Protesters
have accused his government of rampant corruption in state projects.
The protests started after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train
station in the northern city of Novi Sad after renovation, killing
16 people.
Tens of thousands of people marked the tragedy’s anniversary on Nov.
1 in Novi Sad.
Serbia was bombed in 1999 for 78 days to force then-President
Slobodan Milosevic to end his crackdown on separatist ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo. Anti-NATO sentiment remain strong in Serbia,
and the U.S. role in revamping the military buildings is
particularly sensitive among many Serbians.
Earlier this year, the government in Albania, another Balkan
country, approved a $1.6 billion plan from Kushner’s company for a
project to develop a luxury resort on a communist-era fortified
island on the Adriatic coast.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
