Serbia’s authoritarian ruler personally intervened to advance an allegedly illegal scheme to hand over a protected site in Belgrade for a Trump tower, the Guardian can reveal.
uncertain
Guardian → intervene → tower
Aleksandar Vučić summoned officials to a meeting at his presidential offices about the project, which has culminated in a landmark indictment of senior figures from his regime on charges of abuse of public office.
asserted
which → summon → office
The criminal case is believed to be the first resulting from the Trumps’ global moneymaking campaign, described by critics as a “pay to play” arrangement where everything from sanctions relief to cutting-edge chips is available to those who enrich the first family and their associates.
asserted
who → believe → family
The alleged scheme to override the protected status of a historic building in the Serbian capital looms over an election scheduled for 25 October, when Vučić will seek to extend his 12 years in power in the face of a mass protest movement spurred by government corruption.
A nationalist former propaganda chief under Slobodan Milošević, Vučić hosted the US president’s son Donald Trump Jr and son-in-law Jared Kushner in Belgrade as they developed plans for a $500m hotel and residential tower to add to their global property portfolios.
asserted
they → allege → portfolios
After the abuse of power charges were brought last December, Kushner’s company announced the project would not proceed “at this time”.
asserted
project → bring → time
Vučić threatened reprisals, calling the prosecutors “corrupt gangs” who “fabricated cases”.
asserted
who → threaten → cases
“We have lost an exceptional investment,” the Serbian president said.
asserted
president → lose → investment
“I will personally ensure that everyone who participated in causing this damage is held accountable.”
asserted
who → ensure → damage
Vučić’s culture minister is among those charged with abuse of power.
asserted
minister → charge → power
But a Guardian investigation, drawing on interviews and leaked documents, reveals that the Serbian president himself led the initial meeting where the alleged scheme was discussed.
asserted
scheme → draw → meeting
This crucial meeting is not mentioned in the indictment, raising questions about what information the prosecutors are holding back and why.
asserted
prosecutors → mention → information
Representatives of the Trumps and Kushner said they had no part in the removal of the building’s protected status and that it would be “false” to say the Belgrade project was part of a “pay to play” scheme.
asserted
project → say → scheme
Vučić did not respond to requests for comment.
asserted
Vučić → respond → comment
His decision to call a snap election means that a hearing at which witnesses might reveal details of his involvement will not take place until after the vote.
uncertain
witnesses → call → vote
On 6 February 2024, Dubravka Đukanović, a Serbian conservation professor in her 60s, arrived for a meeting at the presidency, a domed former royal palace.
asserted
Đukanović → arrive → presidency
The building, an architectural gem seen as an emblem of resistance to the Nazis, was already cherished when Nato forces bombed it in 1999 during its campaign to force Milošević to withdraw from Kosovo, deepening its resonance.
asserted
forces → see → resonance
Vučić himself had reaffirmed the General Staff building’s legally protected status in 2016.
asserted
Vučić → reaffirm → 2016
Now, the president said he wanted Đukanović to rescind it, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting.
uncertain
Đukanović → say → meeting
Under Serbian law, stripping the General Staff building of its protected status was not in Đukanović’s gift.
asserted
stripping → strip → gift
Her institute would have to commission an expert opinion, which would have to conclude that there were good reasons why protected status was no longer merited.
asserted
status → have → opinion
But the president wanted it done.
asserted
it → want → ?
His tone towards Đukanović and another heritage official present was unpleasant, the sources said.
asserted
sources → say → Đukanović
He told them they were lazy and incompetent.
asserted
they → tell → them
The message was clear: do what I want or resign.
asserted
I → want → what
A plausible explanation for Vučić’s forceful intervention came the following month, when an agreement between the Serbian government and Kushner’s real estate company leaked.
asserted
agreement → come → government
Since Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, Kushner had been concentrating on his investment fund.
asserted
Kushner → concentrate → fund
By early 2024, Trump was storming to the Republican nomination and was favourite to win the coming election.
asserted
Trump → storm → election
If Trump took back the White House, Kushner would once more be one of the most influential people on the planet.
asserted
Kushner → take → planet
The leaked agreement showed the Serbian authorities had granted Kushner’s company a 99-year lease over the General Staff site, free of charge.
asserted
authorities → leak → charge
Kushner, whose spokesperson said he had been looking at the project since 2021, posted an image of the design on X, professing himself “excited”.
asserted
himself → say → X
The news was not universally welcomed in Belgrade.
asserted
news → welcome → Belgrade
“Serbia is not a buffet, and Vučić is not a waiter,” said Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, an environmental activist who revealed the agreement.
asserted
who → say → agreement
Yet Vučić’s regime proceeded to sign a contract, dated 13 May 2024 and seen by the Guardian, undertaking that the “cultural heritage designation” of the site would be removed “to the satisfaction” of Kushner’s company.
uncertain
designation → proceed → company
The week after the contract was signed, Đukanović was summoned to another meeting.
asserted
Đukanović → sign → meeting
Siniša Mali, his finance minister and right-hand man, took charge.
asserted
Mali → take → charge
Mali urged Đukanović and Olivera Vučković, Belgrade’s top heritage official, to cancel the General Staff site’s protected status, according to the indictment’s summary of testimony the two women would later give prosecutors.
uncertain
women → urge → prosecutors
It makes no reference to the earlier meeting with the president but indicates that the subject had previously been broached.
asserted
subject → make → president
“Mali asked them if they had given it any thought,” the indictment says, “and if they would initiate the procedure to remove the building’s protected status.
asserted
they → ask → status
The women refused, “believing that the legal conditions for it were not met”.
asserted
conditions → refuse → it
In that case, Mali told them, repeating his boss’s ultimatum from February, they should resign.
asserted
they → tell → February
…and 73 more, not listed.
The Aporia
