In Serbia, thousands of people formed a symbolic human shield around the ruined military complex in Belgrade to protect it from redevelopment in favor of a luxury project involving a company linked to Jared Kushner – the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Youth activists formed a red line around the sprawling buildings in the heart of the capital, partially destroyed after NATO bombings in 1999. The plan is to demolish the old complex and build on its site a new hotel-office and shopping center with the backing of the government of President Aleksandar Vučić.
The idea, worth about $500 million, drew sharp opposition both domestically and abroad from experts and the broad Serbian community. However, last week, lawmakers passed a special law allowing construction despite legal obstacles.
The government backing Trump says the project will accelerate economic growth and deepen ties with the United States, especially despite the U.S. 35% tariffs on imports to Serbia. The United States also imposed sanctions on the oil-supply monopoly in Serbia, controlled by Russian interests.
Critics, on the other hand, call the structure an architectural landmark and a symbol of resistance to NATO and U.S. missiles – and in the Western Balkans this is often viewed as “aggression” against Serbian interests.
Dispute over Legality and the History of its Status
Last year, the government of Serbia stripped the complex of protected status and signed a 99-year lease with Affinity Global Development, connected to Kushner. Yet the reconstruction was put into doubt after investigators from the anti-organized crime unit opened an inquiry into possible document forgery related to the revocation of protection status.
The buildings are considered one of the finest examples of mid-20th-century architecture in the former Yugoslavia. Protesters insist on restoring the protected status of the landmark and its subsequent reconstruction in line with its historic appearance.
This is a warning: we will all defend these buildings together. We will become a human shield.
– One of the students
This case has become the new epicenter of months-long protests that have undermined President Vučić’s position. Protesters accuse the government of corruption tied to state projects. Demonstrations erupted after a concrete canopy collapsed at the Novi Sad railway station during renovations, killing 16 people.
On November 1, thousands of people paid tribute to the tragic date in Novi Sad.
Serbia was bombed in 1999 for 78 days to force then-President Slobodan Milošević to stop the repression of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Anti-American sentiment remains noticeable, and the U.S. role in the modernization of these buildings provokes sensitivity among many Serbs.
Earlier this year, the Albanian government approved a plan worth $1.6 billion from Kushner’s company to develop a luxurious resort complex on a fortified island off the Adriatic coast.