Trump's son-in-law wants to rebuild the army headquarters in Belgrade bombed by NATO

Belgrade/New York - The son-in-law of former U.S. President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, is preparing a development project in the center of Serbia's capital, Belgrade, which includes the reconstruction of the former headquarters of the General Staff destroyed during NATO bombing. The idea has excited Serbian President, reported RFE/RL.

The building of the General Staff suffered a devastating blow on the night of April 29 to 30, 1999 - less than a week after NATO, led by the Americans, began bombing Yugoslavia to stop the expulsion of ethnic Albanians carried out by Serbian forces in Kosovo. After the war, the building, left in a ruined state, became one of the symbols of the bombing, which a large portion of Serbs still consider a crime.

The existence of the project was reported last week by one of the opposition lawmakers. He published a memorandum of understanding signed between the Serbian government and Kushner's development company, Kushner Realty LLC. The memorandum also authorizes the Serbian Ministry of Construction to conclude an investment contract that would grant Kushner land for the construction of a luxury hotel and apartments free of charge for 99 years.

President Vučić stated on Monday that he was thrilled by the plan. According to him, the reconstruction would solve problems associated with the existence of the destroyed building in the center of the metropolis. He added that the project, according to his information, involves "some museum dedicated to the victims" of the NATO bombing.

Kushner confirmed his interest last week when he presented a preliminary architectural design of the project on the social network X. He also intends to build along the coast of Albania.

According to findings by The New York Times (NYT), Donald Trump himself came up with the idea for the reconstruction of the bombed building three years before his presidency in 2016. However, he did not manage to realize it. Kushner is now being assisted in his development activities in the Balkans by Trump's close associate and former special envoy for the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue, Richard Grenell. He has especially held pro-Serbian positions in recent years and received a state award from Vučić last year.