KUSHNER REAL ESTATE INC.
Belgrade (AFP) – Serbian prosecutors indicted the country's culture minister and three others on Monday over "alleged illegalities" in the approval process of a hotel project linked to US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Issued on: 15/12/2025 -
The proposed redevelopment has sparked protests
© Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP/File
Plans to transform the bombed-out former Yugoslav army headquarters in Belgrade into a high-rise hotel first stalled in May when allegations emerged that the move to revoke the building's protected status had been based on a forged document.
In a statement, organised crime prosecutors said they had indicted Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and three others over alleged abuse of office and forgery of an official document that had allowed the removal of the site's "cultural-heritage status".
Despite an ongoing investigation, lawmakers moved to fast-track the development last month, claiming it was an urgent project.
Protests erupted afterwards in the capital, with demonstrators calling for the towering ruins to be preserved both for their unique modernist architecture and as a memorial to mark the 1999 NATO bombing that left the building damaged.
Affinity Partners, a Miami-based investment firm linked to Kushner, signed a 99-year land deal with the Serbian government last year to redevelop the site shortly after its cultural asset status was revoked.
But prosecutors said in May that the acting head of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Goran Vasic, had admitted to forging an official document.
Vasic was one of the four indicted on Wednesday, alongside Selakovic and two other officials.
If found guilty, they could face up to five years in prison.
President Aleksandar Vucic, who has hosted Kushner several times, has publicly backed the project and previously said he would pardon anyone who faced charges over the development.
"I will not give them the opportunity to prosecute those who are not guilty of anything. I am guilty. I am the one who wanted Serbia's modernisation. I am the one who wanted to bring in a major investor," Vucic said on Monday during a visit to the southern city of Nis.
© 2025 AFP
Plans to transform the bombed-out former Yugoslav army headquarters in Belgrade into a high-rise hotel first stalled in May when allegations emerged that the move to revoke the building's protected status had been based on a forged document.
In a statement, organised crime prosecutors said they had indicted Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and three others over alleged abuse of office and forgery of an official document that had allowed the removal of the site's "cultural-heritage status".
Despite an ongoing investigation, lawmakers moved to fast-track the development last month, claiming it was an urgent project.
Protests erupted afterwards in the capital, with demonstrators calling for the towering ruins to be preserved both for their unique modernist architecture and as a memorial to mark the 1999 NATO bombing that left the building damaged.
Affinity Partners, a Miami-based investment firm linked to Kushner, signed a 99-year land deal with the Serbian government last year to redevelop the site shortly after its cultural asset status was revoked.
But prosecutors said in May that the acting head of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Goran Vasic, had admitted to forging an official document.
Vasic was one of the four indicted on Wednesday, alongside Selakovic and two other officials.
If found guilty, they could face up to five years in prison.
President Aleksandar Vucic, who has hosted Kushner several times, has publicly backed the project and previously said he would pardon anyone who faced charges over the development.
"I will not give them the opportunity to prosecute those who are not guilty of anything. I am guilty. I am the one who wanted Serbia's modernisation. I am the one who wanted to bring in a major investor," Vucic said on Monday during a visit to the southern city of Nis.
© 2025 AFP
Jared Kushner brings controversial Trump hotel plan to 'abrupt end' facing fierce backlash
Nicole Charky-Chami
December 15, 2025
RAW STORY
Jared Kushner looks on during a swearing-in ceremony of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 6, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has dropped his plans to build a Trump hotel in Serbia after a wave of backlash, according to reports on Monday.
Following protests and indictments, Kushner and his private equity group, Affinity Partners, rolled back plans to redevelop a Belgrade site bombed by NATO as a Trump-branded project, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Plans for a trio of towers in the country were plagued by a series of predicaments, including a special prosecutor indicting a cabinet minister and three others in connection with the plan.
“Because meaningful projects should unite rather than divide, and out of respect for the people of Serbia and the City of Belgrade, we are withdrawing our application and stepping aside at this time,” a spokesperson for Kusher's company said.
The move was considered an "abrupt end to an increasingly controversial project that Kushner—now both a public figure and a prolific dealmaker—has worked on for more than two years," The Journal reported.
Before Trump's second return to office, Kushner had said he would not return to government service; however, it appears that has changed. Kushner has stepped into negotiations between Russia and Ukraine as a representative of the U.S. and also had a similar involvement throughout the peace negotiations in Gaza.
"At the same time, he runs Affinity, a $4.8 billion private-equity firm that invests globally, and is mostly funded by Middle Eastern governments," The Journal reported. "That firm is part of a record-breaking $55 billion buyout of Electronic Arts and is helping fund Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros."
Nicole Charky-Chami
December 15, 2025
RAW STORY
Jared Kushner looks on during a swearing-in ceremony of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 6, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has dropped his plans to build a Trump hotel in Serbia after a wave of backlash, according to reports on Monday.
Following protests and indictments, Kushner and his private equity group, Affinity Partners, rolled back plans to redevelop a Belgrade site bombed by NATO as a Trump-branded project, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Plans for a trio of towers in the country were plagued by a series of predicaments, including a special prosecutor indicting a cabinet minister and three others in connection with the plan.
“Because meaningful projects should unite rather than divide, and out of respect for the people of Serbia and the City of Belgrade, we are withdrawing our application and stepping aside at this time,” a spokesperson for Kusher's company said.
The move was considered an "abrupt end to an increasingly controversial project that Kushner—now both a public figure and a prolific dealmaker—has worked on for more than two years," The Journal reported.
Before Trump's second return to office, Kushner had said he would not return to government service; however, it appears that has changed. Kushner has stepped into negotiations between Russia and Ukraine as a representative of the U.S. and also had a similar involvement throughout the peace negotiations in Gaza.
"At the same time, he runs Affinity, a $4.8 billion private-equity firm that invests globally, and is mostly funded by Middle Eastern governments," The Journal reported. "That firm is part of a record-breaking $55 billion buyout of Electronic Arts and is helping fund Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros."
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