On November 14, 2025, a decision by the Real Estate Cadastral Office Savski venac in Belgrade set off a storm of controversy by stripping the status of protected cultural property from the ruined buildings of the General Staff, the Barracks of the 7th Regiment, and the Old General Staff building. These structures, each with about a century of history etched into their walls, are now slated to become part of a new “Trump Towers” residential and hotel complex—a project contracted by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić with Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to Danas, the Cadastral Office’s decision was based on a recently adopted lex specialis law, passed by the Serbian Parliament’s ruling coalition in an urgent procedure on November 7, 2025. This law specifically targeted the development site bounded by Kneza Miloša, Masarikova, Birčaninova, and Resavska streets, mandating that the Republic Geodetic Authority and the relevant cultural protection institution remove the buildings from their respective heritage registers within 15 days of the law’s enactment.
The move has not only ignited a fierce debate over the fate of Belgrade’s architectural heritage but also laid bare deep divisions within Serbian society and its institutions. Estela Radonjić Živkov, a researcher conservator at the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, expressed disbelief at the procedure. “I don’t know if by removing the protection from these plots, they abolished the Law on Cultural Heritage via the Cadastre. What is happening is completely unbelievable,” she told Danas. She emphasized that, under Serbian law, only the republic and city institutes for the protection of cultural monuments have the authority to request the removal of protected status, and only after a proper review. Yet, in this case, the process was reversed: the Republic Geodetic Authority initiated the removal, bypassing the Institute altogether.
The urgency and manner of the decision have prompted accusations of procedural violations. Radonjić Živkov noted, “They skipped the Law on Cultural Heritage and the competent institution; they did not wait for it to be deleted from the Institute’s register first, but instead deleted it from the Cadastre.” She further highlighted the complex situation surrounding Goran Vasić, the acting director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments. Vasić, who is currently under criminal investigation for a previous attempt to remove protection from these same buildings, had been temporarily barred from work due to the investigation but has since returned after the court lifted the measure. According to Radonjić Živkov, Vasić’s acting status expired earlier this year, yet he remains involved in the process, raising further questions about the legitimacy of the actions taken.
The lex specialis law itself was crafted and passed with remarkable speed. During parliamentary debate, opposition MPs pointed out that the buildings and plots in question were protected as cultural monuments. The ruling coalition responded by introducing an amendment that retroactively nullified the cultural monument status of the General Staff buildings, declaring that these structures “are considered not to have acquired the status, nor do they have the status of a cultural property.” For critics, this maneuver amounted to a legislative override of existing cultural protection laws, tailored specifically to enable the Trump Towers project.
As the legal and political dust settled, resistance began to coalesce outside government circles. On November 19, 2025, the Association of Architects of Serbia (UAS), the country’s leading professional body in architecture and cultural heritage, sent an open letter to Jared Kushner. The letter, titled “Terminate this Agreement Immediately,” warned Kushner that he may have been misinformed about the legal and cultural status of the site. “Mr. Kushner, we are convinced that these facts must have been omitted from the background information and legal advice you have received so far, as we cannot otherwise explain how the project could have reached this stage in the first place,” the letter stated.
The UAS laid out five major points, including the continued legal protection of the General Staff Building Complex, systemic violations of law, growing societal resistance, the building’s structural integrity, and the broader cultural value of the site. They cautioned that the government’s actions violated the Serbian Constitution, the Law on Culture, the Law on Cultural Property, and urban planning regulations. Specifically, the letter pointed out that only the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments has the authority to initiate the removal of protected status, and that this procedure had not been respected. “Any attempt to remove the protection status outside of the legally defined procedure would represent a violation of the law, as well as a violation of the Constitution itself,” the UAS warned Kushner.
The letter also referenced a report from the Serbian branch of Transparency International, which documented the lack of public tender for the site, the absence of an urban plan for new construction, and the failure to hold an architectural competition for the redevelopment. These omissions, the report argued, explained why the project is now under investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime. “The Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime has already opened an investigation, and its scope is now expanding to high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Construction,” the UAS wrote. They further highlighted a broader institutional conflict, noting that “there was a serious institutional conflict between the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and organized crime, after the President of the Prosecutor's Office publicly accused the prosecutors on television of being an 'organized criminal group,' an accusation that the Prosecutor's Office resolutely rejected in an official public statement.”
Signed by 76 domestic and international professional organizations and 6,772 experts from fields including architecture, construction, cultural heritage, art, history, and law, the UAS letter urged Kushner to “suspend participation in this project to avoid legal and reputational risks.” They even advised that, should Kushner seek financial compensation from the Serbian government for any breach of contract, he should consider waiving it or donating the funds to underfunded sectors such as cultural heritage preservation and children’s welfare.
With the Trump Towers project now entangled in legal, political, and ethical controversies, and with an organized professional front demanding its cancellation, the fate of one of Belgrade’s most historically significant sites hangs in the balance. The coming months are likely to see continued legal wrangling, public protest, and international scrutiny as Serbia confronts the challenge of balancing development ambitions with the preservation of its cultural heritage.
The situation serves as a stark reminder that the past and future of a city are often decided not just in government offices or boardrooms, but in the hearts and voices of its people—and in the laws that are meant to protect them.
