Serbia’s government quietly signed a joint venture last year with a company owned by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, to redevelop the former General Staff headquarters in central Belgrade, according to documents published by Serbian investigative weekly Radar on November 13.

The leaked 2024 investment agreement shows that Kushner’s firm, Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, would hold a 77.5% stake in the venture, with the Serbian state retaining 22.5%. The project foresees a luxury hotel, residential units and a museum on the site of the Yugoslav army headquarters, which was bombed by Nato in 1999 and since protected as a cultural landmark.

Under the deal, Serbia committed to demolish all existing buildings and remove the site’s protected heritage status “in a manner satisfactory” to Kushner’s company. The land is to be leased to the US developer free of charge for 99 years, with the option to convert the lease into ownership. If Serbia fails to meet its obligations by May 2026, the company may terminate the contract “at its discretion” and claim millions of euros in damages, the documents show.

The Serbian government has not disputed the authenticity of the published agreement, which was kept from the public until Radar made it available this week. The revelations have intensified criticism of a special law passed by parliament on November 7 that fast-tracks redevelopment of the site as a “project of national importance”.

The lex specialis allows authorities to bypass planning and regulatory procedures that had stalled the project earlier this year, when prosecutors opened an investigation into whether documents used to strip the complex of its protected status had been forged. Goran Vasić, acting head of Serbia’s cultural heritage institute, was arrested in connection with the case; the probe is ongoing.

The parliamentary vote — 130 in favour and 40 against — took place amid nationwide demonstrations led by students and activists protesting corruption, weakening institutions and what they see as government cronyism. This week, demonstrators formed a human chain around the bomb-damaged complex, drawing a symbolic red line in an effort to halt what they call the “sell-off” of one of Belgrade’s most important modernist sites, designed by architect Nikola Dobrović.

Opposition lawmakers condemned the lex specialis, saying it overrides urban planning rules and public interest. Ivana Rokvić of the People’s Movement of Serbia compared the decision to other controversial state-backed developments, including Belgrade Waterfront, arguing the government was trading “a symbol of history and sacrifice” for political favour “and a little bit of Trump’s mercy”.

The project is also seen as Belgrade’s attempt to curry favour with Washington after the US imposed sanctions on Serbian oil company NIS, majority-owned by Russia’s Gazprom. The agreement references an interstate framework with the United Arab Emirates, which also underpins the Belgrade Waterfront development by UAE-based Eagle Hills, a partner in Kushner’s wider regional projects.

Public scrutiny is mounting as details of the deal emerge. The investment agreement published by Radar states that if Serbia does not complete demolition and prepare the land to the investor’s satisfaction by May next year, Atlantic Incubation Partners may walk away and demand compensation.

Despite the backlash, the government has defended the redevelopment as a driver of economic growth and part of a broader strategy to revitalise central Belgrade.

Construction cannot begin until the state meets its contractual obligations — including clearing the ruins that for many Serbians remain a potent symbol of the 1999 conflict.