"Affinity Global Development, a company linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of the US president Donald Trump, has withdrawn from the project. The decision came soon after Serbian prosecutors indicted Nikola Selaković, the country's minister of culture, alongside Slavica Jelača, a secretary at the ministry of culture; Goran Vasić, acting director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments; and Aleksandar Ivanović, acting director of the Belgrade City Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments."
"The Generalštab complex, a landmark of Yugoslav Modernism, was heavily damaged by Nato's 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. Towards the end of last year it became the centre of a fierce public debate after the Serbian government moved to override its protected status through a new lex specialis (special law), clearing the way for redevelopment. The Serbian government first approved a contract with the company linked to the former senior adviser to the US president, Jared Kushner, in early 2024."
"The officials are accused of two criminal offences: abuse of office and the falsification of an official document. There has been no suggestion of wrongdoing by Affinity Global Development. Attempts to reach a representatives for Selaković, Jelača, Vasić and Ivanović for comment were not successful by the time of publication. Selaković had previously been questioned as part of the investigation and, in earlier statements to local media, denied any wrongdoing."
Plans to convert the Generalštab complex into a luxury development featuring a Trump International Hotel collapsed after Serbian prosecutors indicted the culture minister and other senior cultural heritage officials. Affinity Global Development, a company linked to Jared Kushner, withdrew from the project; no suggestion of wrongdoing was made against the company. The officials face charges of abuse of office and falsification of an official document. Attempts to reach the indicted officials were unsuccessful; the minister has denied wrongdoing. The complex, damaged in NATO's 1999 bombing, had its protected status overridden by a special law, heightening local tensions.
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