In Belgrade, Serbia, protests have erupted over a controversial real estate deal involving former Trump White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, former Trump Administration aide Richard Grenell, and the Serbian government. The project, reported by the New York Times’s Eric Lipton, is a $500 million hotel development on the site of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense.
Lipton points out that this venture places Kushner directly in business with a European state as his father-in-law, Donald J. Trump, aims to return to the White House. The proposed development site has significant historical and emotional weight. The complex was bombed by NATO forces, backed by the United States, in 1999 during the war between Serbia and Kosovo. This historical context adds to the controversy surrounding the project.
“It is now considered a prime undeveloped real-estate site in the middle of a much-changed city, and Mr. Trump himself had considered building a hotel at the same site in 2013.” But not everyone in Serbia’s federal government is happy about the deal, which, according to Lipton, has “drawn criticism from opposition leaders in the Serbian parliament.”
Lipton reports, “Protesters blocked traffic in front of the former defense ministry headquarters on Thursday and put up signs questioning the decision, including some that said: ‘Stop Giving Army HQ as a Present to American Offshore Companies’…. Some in Serbia object to the plan because of the United States’ role in the bombing 25 years ago.”
Not everyone within Serbia’s federal government is on board with the deal. Lipton reports that the project has faced criticism from opposition leaders in the Serbian parliament. The opposition’s concerns echo those of the protesters who took to the streets, blocking traffic in front of the former defense ministry headquarters and displaying signs that read, “Stop Giving Army HQ as a Present to American Offshore Companies.” Many Serbians object to the plan due to the United States’ role in the bombings 25 years ago.
Dragan Jonic is one of the Serbian MPs voicing strong opposition to the deal, reflecting the growing discontent within the political landscape of Serbia. Meanwhile, in the United States, the project has also attracted criticism from prominent Democrats. Representatives Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Robert Garcia (D-CA) have been vocal about Kushner’s international business ventures. In March, Raskin and Garcia warned, “Jared Kushner is pursuing new foreign business deals, just as Donald Trump becomes the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency.”
The controversy surrounding this real estate deal underscores the complexities and tensions of international business engagements involving former and potentially future political figures. The intersection of past conflicts, current political dynamics, and international business deals has created a volatile situation that resonates both locally in Serbia and internationally, particularly in the context of U.S. politics.