Serbia’s parliament will debate a special law this week to fast-track a $500mn luxury hotel and residential complex backed by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, despite mounting political unrest and widespread public opposition.

According to a parliamentary announcement published on November 2, lawmakers are set to discuss a bill on November 4 to introduce “special procedures” for redeveloping the former Yugoslav defence ministry complex in central Belgrade, destroyed during the 1999 Nato bombardment of Serbia and Montenegro.

The move comes at a sensitive time in Serbian politics. Anti-government protests have shaken the country for a year following a deadly infrastructure collapse in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, which killed 16 people. Protesters accuse President Aleksandar Vucic’s government of corruption, cronyism and disregard for the rule of law — the same issues critics say underpin the Trump-linked development.

The project, led by Kushner’s Affinity Global Development and UAE developer Eagle Hills, envisions a luxury hotel, 1,500 apartments and a museum on the site of the former General Staff headquarters. The modernist complex, designed by renowned architect Nikola Dobrović, was heavily damaged during Nato’s 1999 bombing and has stood since as a monument to its victims.

The site has long been contentious. The General Staff buildings were hit during Nato’s overnight bombing raids in April and May 1999. Nato justified the strikes as a humanitarian intervention, but civilian casualties and the destruction of hospitals and media offices made the campaign highly controversial, and it continues to strain Serbia’s relations with the West.

Until last year, the buildings were protected as a cultural heritage site. But in May 2024 the government signed a 99-year lease with Kushner’s firm. Six months later, the site was removed from the register of protected properties to allow construction. That decision came under scrutiny after Goran Vasić, acting head of Serbia’s cultural heritage institute, was suddenly arrested in May this year for falsifying the proposal that justified the declassification. The investigation is ongoing.

Allegations of official forgery have turned the project into a symbol of the issues driving Serbia’s protests: corruption, cronyism and disregard for the rule of law. Disregard for due process has marked Vucic’s 12 years in power. In 2016, an entire street in Belgrade’s Savamala district was bulldozed overnight to make way for a Gulf-backed luxury waterfront development. Apartments sold for more than most Serbs could afford, while Vucic hailed the project as a triumph.

The Trump-Kushner development may be harder to spin. Many in Belgrade are scandalised by the idea of a US real estate developer — representing the country that bombed the city in 1999 — demolishing the Generalštab all over again to make way for a hotel. Kushner’s pledge to erect a memorial to bombing victims has little cut through.

The controversy reflects broader frustration with the ruling party’s record on governance and the rule of law. Given the scale of current protests, pushing ahead now risks inflaming public anger. If approved, the bill would clear the way for construction on one of Belgrade’s most contentious sites, adding another flashpoint to Serbia’s most turbulent political moment in decades.