Belgrade protesters draw ‘red line’ against Kushner’s luxury real estate project

Thousands of Serbian students and citizens formed a symbolic human wall around the ruined former Yugoslav Army General Staff complex in central Belgrade on Tuesday, drawing a bold red line on the ground as a “first warning” to authorities against demolishing the NATO-bombed landmark for a $500 million luxury hotel and residential compound backed by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The protest, dubbed “We Are a Living Wall”, ended shortly after noon with demonstrators vowing they “will not peacefully” allow the destruction of the site, which they see as a sacred memorial to victims of the 1999 NATO airstrikes that targeted the buildings during the Kosovo war.

“The authorities decided to pass a special law to legalize their crime,” student Valentina Moravčević told the crowd, adding: “They can now legally destroy this building, but we won’t let them. Our history and cultural heritage matter to us.”

Just four days after Serbia’s parliament fast-tracked a lex specialis law on November 7 – approved 130-40 despite heated debates and prior street rallies – enabling Kushner’s Affinity Partners to accelerate the 99-year lease project, protesters demanded its abolition and restoration of the complex’s cultural heritage status, revoked in late 2024.

The deal, signed in 2024 and involving UAE’s Eagle Hills as a partner, envisions a high-rise Trump-branded hotel, apartments, offices, shops, and a memorial – though critics dismiss the latter as insufficient.

Built in 1965 and designated protected in 2005, the modernist complex opposite government buildings has stood unreconstructed since NATO bombs hit it multiple times, symbolizing Serbian suffering.

The project was briefly halted in May 2025 over forged documents in the heritage revocation, with an ongoing investigation

Attendees, including opposition figures and former Yugoslav FRY President Vojislav Koštunica, observed 17 minutes of silence – 16 for victims of the Novi Sad station canopy collapse and one for a deceased Belgrade student – before dispersing peacefully, reopening Kneza Miloša Street.

“Demolishing the General Staff means erasing history and humiliating citizens,” organizers declared, labeling it their “first warning.”

President Aleksandar Vučić, who has hosted Kushner multiple times, defends the redevelopment as vital for U.S. ties amid Trump’s return, promising a victim memorial funded by investors.

Opposition accuses him of “corrupting Trump” and trampling laws.

As protests fuse with broader anti-government unrest over corruption and the Novi Sad tragedy, demonstrators insist the red line remains: “We don’t give up the General Staff.”

This echoes our earlier report on the parliament’s controversial fast-tracking.