A plan to build a large mixed-use complex by U.S. President Donald Trump's family in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia on the Balkan Peninsula, was abruptly halted. Controversy flared after the ruling party passed a special law stripping the site of its status as a cultural monument.
On the 15th (local time), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Affinity Partners, a private equity firm run by Trump's eldest son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said, "A meaningful project should bring unity, not division," and added, "Out of respect for the people of Serbia and the city of Belgrade, we are withdrawing our application for this project and have decided to step back for the time being."
Earlier that day, Serbian prosecutors announced indictments against Minister of Culture Nikola Selakovic and three related civil servants in connection with the Trump family's plan to build three high-rise buildings in central Belgrade, which was bombed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Affinity Partners then announced the termination of the project it had pursued for more than two years.
Affinity Partners had pushed a plan to redevelop the former General Staff headquarters complex, a historic site in Belgrade, into a $500 million (about 734.9 billion won) mixed-use complex including a Trump hotel, apartments, offices, and commercial facilities. Completed in 1965, the General Staff building was destroyed by NATO's bombing and has remained in ruins; regarded as a symbolic site showing the horrors of Serbia's modern history, it was designated a national cultural heritage site in 2006.
The WSJ said, "Though historically close to Moscow, this Balkan country has also maintained many ties with Western Europe and had much it sought from the Trump administration, such as lifting sanctions on its only domestic refinery." Analysts say Serbia, which has long set itself at odds with the West, sought to use this project to improve ties with the United States.
The issue erupted last month when Serbia's ruling party passed a special law stripping the site of its cultural heritage status to support Kushner's project. In the process, indications emerged that key documents had been forged, and prosecutors indicted Minister of Culture Nikola Selakovic; Slavica Jelaca, the Minister of Culture's secretary; Goran Basic, acting director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments; and Aleksandar Ivanovic, acting director of the Belgrade Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments.
Kushner's decision to abandon the project appears to have been influenced not only by the indictments of Serbian government officials but also by mounting international criticism. After news of the Trump family's complex plan became public, Wesley Clark, who was a NATO commander during the Balkan War, and others spoke out with public criticism, and the European Parliament said in a report that it "expresses serious concern about increasing political interference in the protection of cultural heritage in Serbia."
Minister Selakovic said in an interview with Informer TV, "I am waiting for the trial," and added, "I want to fight the charges because the real target is not me, but President Aleksandar Vucic." Selakovic is considered a close aide to Vucic.
Although the Serbia project has fallen through, the Trump family's real estate ventures in the Balkans are set to continue. Affinity plans to develop an abandoned military installation site on Albania's coast into a mixed-use complex combining a hotel and residential facilities. In Romania, a high-end real estate developer is pursuing a project in Bucharest using the Trump brand.