"Because important projects should unite, not divide, and out of respect for the citizens of Serbia and Belgrade, we are withdrawing our application and this time we are stepping aside,"
"We will now be left with a destroyed building, and it is only a matter of time before bricks and other parts start falling off it, because no one will ever touch it again,"
"The efforts of the Vucic government to get the property, the General Staff and Ministry of Defense building, to get it off the registry of culturally protected properties, monuments, had blown up in scandal. So, none of this is surprising,"
Affinity Partners withdrew its application for a planned $500 million luxury hotel complex at the bombed General Staff site in Belgrade, citing respect for citizens and a desire to avoid division. Serbia's Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime filed an indictment against Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic for allegedly illegally removing the buildings' cultural heritage status. The site was destroyed during the 1999 NATO bombing and had faced opposition from protesters, opposition politicians, and the Association of Architects. President Aleksandar Vucic warned the structure will deteriorate further if left untouched. Johns Hopkins fellow Edward P. Joseph said efforts to delist the property had ‘‘blown up in scandal’’ and noted the matter was raised in a U.S. House subcommittee.
Read at RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
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