The Serbian government secretly formed a joint venture with a company owned by Jared Kushner in early 2024 to redevelop a protected site in Belgrade. Leaked documents show that Kushner’s firm, Atlantic Incubation Partners, would control 77.5% of the project, while Serbia would hold 22.5%.
The plan focuses on rebuilding the former Serbian armed forces headquarters, which was bombed by Nato in 1999. Although the agreement was made in February 2024, it remained hidden until a new fast-track development law brought it to public attention. That law bypasses regulations that had paused the project over concerns about possibly forged documents removing the site’s cultural status.
The leaked contract requires Serbia to demolish the existing structures and prepare the land by May next year or face financial penalties. It also grants Kushner’s venture a free 99-year lease with an option for full ownership. The deal has intensified longstanding student-led protests against corruption and the destruction of culturally significant architecture.
Demonstrators argue the project threatens an important landmark designed by renowned modernist architect Nikola Dobrović. The controversy unfolds as Serbia seeks better relations with the Trump administration amid US sanctions and growing pressure on independent media.
The General Staff Building in central Belgrade photographed soon after its completion in 1965.