Serbian parliament supports Kushner's project despite opposition

BELGRADE (Reuters) -Serbia's parliament adopted a law on Friday aimed at speeding up the development of a luxury compound in Belgrade leased to an investment company founded by Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law.

U.S.-based Affinity Global Development aims to build a hotel, apartments, shops and offices on the site of the former Yugoslav army headquarters - a plan that has prompted protests from Serbs who say the site should be preserved.

Many Serbs see the old headquarters, which were damaged in a 1999 NATO bombing campaign, as a tribute to those who died and a monument to Yugoslav-era modernist architecture, and opposed the signing of a 99-year lease deal with Affinity last year.

Some opposition politicians had argued that the law was unconstitutional but the ruling majority approved it without amendments and agreed that the law can come into effect before a legal deadline, which means that works may begin soon.

Kushner's wider investment firm, Affinity Partners, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Despite protests, the Serbian government last November stripped the buildings of their protected cultural heritage label.      Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, set up Affinity Global Development after stepping down from his job as a White House aide in 2021.     The vote comes at a turbulent time in Serbia as President Aleksandar Vucic has faced a year of large-scale protests triggered by the collapse of a station roof in November 2024 that killed 16 people.

Serbia's sole, Russian-owned oil refinery is under U.S. sanctions, raising concerns about fuel supplies in the Balkan country this winter.

On Friday, Russia called on Belgrade to clarify remarks by Vucic regarding the potential sale of ammunition to the European Union amid concerns in Moscow that the shipments might reach Ukraine. Moscow said Serbia had promised Russia its ammunition would not end up in Ukrainian hands.

(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic, additional reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; editing by Philippa Fletcher)