Jared Kushner’s Ambitious $500M Luxury Complex Proposal Faces Stiff Opposition From Serbians

Jared Kushner , the son-in-law of former president Donald Trump , has his sights set on dilapidated buildings in Belgrade, Serbia. The whopping $500 million restoration project plan of Kushner’s investment company, Affinity Group, lays out plans for possible demolition of the former Serbian army headquarters in Belgrade. In its place, it plans to construct a luxurious apartment complex and high-rise hotel.

As such, the proposal has generated intense criticism from public authorities and people who have accused Kushner of destroying the cultural aesthetics of the city. “It’s one of the pearls of pre-war architecture,” Serbian politician and opposition leader Borko Stefanovic exclusively told The Daily Beast . He added, “There is the emotional aspect: This site was bombed by NATO in 1999. Most Serbs believe this site should not be desecrated in any way.”

A recent petition against it, started by the Kreni-Promeni, or “Make Changes” campaign , received about 25,000 signatures in a few hours. The center-left coalition, led by Stefanovic, is concerned that the Serbian government may use the agreement to gain favor with Kushner and, eventually, with Trump. “There is no transparency, the government is not willing to present to the public any aspect of this possible deal,” Stefanovic said. “Mr. Vucic and his regime are counting desperately that Mr. Trump will win in the United States.”

Trump had previously expressed interest in the location. According to former Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, he discussed potential locations for a five-star hotel with the Serbian government in 2013. Despite the efforts of Trump associates, the idea was never implemented. The head of the Kreni-Promeni opposition movement, Savo Manojlovic, stated that he also thinks Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is attempting to warm up to Trump ahead of a possible election victory this autumn.

Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, stated that Kushner may face some issues because of the transaction. “What [Kushner] should be thinking about is: I was in the White House, my father-in-law is running for president, I shouldn’t enter into deals that may give the appearance…of [a foreign government] trying to gain advantage with the potential next president of the United States,” Weissman said.

“If our diplomats are conducting themselves as diplomats with an eye towards what business deals they can conduct when they leave the foreign service, rather than how to advance the interests of the American people, we’re in a really bad way,” Weissman warned. Stefanovic claims he and his colleagues received a ‘memorandum of understanding’ regarding the contract but nothing more, indicating that the Vucic government has withheld information about the terms of the agreement. He added that his coalition had brought up the matter in parliament, but Vucic and his allies shut it down. “Their response in the parliament when we started to speak on this was fierce. They attacked us personally—it was on the verge of physical violence,” Stefanovic said.

Stefanovic proposed that any remodeling at the location has to honor the war. There have been suggestions to establish a historical museum at the site of the bombing. “Petition, protest, and public pressure—we will do everything to protect our state, citizens, and national and constitutional pride, to not give our government a chance to do this illegal act of giving land to the Kushner family,” Manojlovic said adding that the venture as ‘very problematic’. His message for Kushner and his team was to stay out of Serbian affairs as “Serbia is not for sale,” as reported by Yahoo! News .