Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić chaired a February 2024 meeting where officials discussed the protected Belgrade site later proposed for a Kushner-linked development, according to a Guardian investigation published on 15 October. The newspaper, citing interviews and leaked documents, reported that two people familiar with the meeting recalled Vučić wanted the site’s protection status lifted for an unspecified foreign investor. The meeting is not mentioned in the indictment, and the account has not been established in court.
Vučić did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment. The report adds a new allegation to a criminal case concerning the removal of heritage protections from the former General Staff military headquarters. Prosecutors have charged four Serbian officials, including Culture Minister Nikola Selaković, with alleged abuse of office and falsification of documents. The defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Alleged meeting is separate from charges
The Guardian said the meeting took place on 6 February 2024 at Vučić’s presidential offices. Its account of the president’s role rests on interviews and leaked documents, and the newspaper noted that the meeting does not appear in the indictment. The reported discussion concerned the site’s protected status, but the dossier does not establish that Vučić directed officials to falsify documents or that prosecutors have accused him of doing so.
The distinction matters because the charges concern the conduct of Selaković and three other officials. Prosecutors allege that they abused their offices and falsified documents in connection with removing the site’s heritage protection. Their trial opened on 4 February 2026, and all four defendants pleaded not guilty. The allegations remain unproven.
The project’s proposed investor was Affinity, Jared Kushner’s business. The plan, valued at roughly $500 million, envisaged a hotel, residential and commercial complex at the former military headquarters, which was damaged in the 1999 NATO bombing and designated cultural heritage. AP reported that Serbia had signed a 99-year lease agreement with a Kushner-linked company.
The Guardian reported that representatives of Donald Trump and Kushner denied involvement in efforts to remove the site’s protected status and rejected a “pay to play” characterization. The dossier says the allegations in the Serbian case do not concern the Trump or Kushner parties’ conduct. No court finding establishes liability for Vučić or the companies.
Company withdrew after charges and protests
Affinity said in December 2025 that it was withdrawing its application and “stepping aside at this time,” according to the Guardian. The announcement followed the charges and protests. AP also reported that Kushner had withdrawn from the project.
After the plans fell through, Vučić called the project a lost investment and threatened accountability for those he said were responsible for its loss, the Guardian reported. Selaković denied wrongdoing.
The Guardian’s October report says a hearing at which witnesses might discuss Vučić’s alleged role would take place only after Serbia’s 25 October 2026 election. That timing and the possibility of testimony are the newspaper’s reporting and have not been independently confirmed against court records in the material available for this report.