Thousands of people protested in Belgrade against the project of Trump's son-in-law

Belgrade - Thousands of people today symbolically created a human shield around the complex of buildings of the former general staff that was bombed during NATO airstrikes in 1999. They want to protect it from being redeveloped into a luxury complex, which is being planned by a company linked to the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner. This was reported today by the AP agency.

The complex is to be demolished and rebuilt as part of a plan supported by the government of President Aleksandar Vučić. Therefore, mostly young protesters today drew a symbolic red line around it.

The $500 million (12.1 billion crowns) project, which includes the construction of a hotel, offices, and shops, has faced strong opposition from experts in Serbia and abroad, as well as from the Serbian public. Nevertheless, last week Serbian lawmakers approved a special law to expedite the construction.

Vučić claims that the project will boost the economy and improve relations with the U.S. administration, which imposed a 35 percent tariff on imports from Serbia and introduced sanctions on Serbia's largest oil company, NIS, in which Russia holds a majority stake.

Critics of the project, on the other hand, argue the architectural significance of the buildings and point out that the complex of the former general staff of the Yugoslav Army is a symbol of resistance against the NATO bombing led by the United States, which is considered an act of unjust aggression in Serbia. Furthermore, the law has been criticized for undermining the legal system.

Last year, the Serbian government stripped the buildings, regarded as a prime example of mid-20th-century Yugoslav architecture, of their protected cultural heritage status and signed a 99-year lease with the American firm Affinity Global Development, associated with Kushner. However, the project has been called into question by a prosecutor's investigation into whether the documents used to revoke the heritage protection were forged.

Protesters are demanding that the cultural heritage status be restored. "This is a warning that we will all defend these buildings together," said one of the protesting students. "We will be a human shield," he added.

The dispute over the buildings has sparked further street protests, which have been shaking the Balkan country for over a year. The initial trigger was the tragedy in Novi Sad, where the collapse of a train station roof killed 16 people. Demonstrators accuse Vučić's government of corruption in public procurement and the usurpation of state institutions.

The building of the former general staff of the Yugoslav Army was severely damaged by airstrikes from the North Atlantic Alliance in late April and early May 1999. NATO, led by the United States, initiated bombing against then-Yugoslavia to stop the expulsion of ethnic Albanians carried out by Serbian forces in Kosovo.