The Italian daily Corriere della Sera has published a powerful critique of the planned demolition of Serbia’s former Army General Staff complex, calling it an act that “goes beyond politics and business” and describing it as a scandalous alliance between Donald Trump and Aleksandar Vučić that sacrifices national heritage for profit.
Students Mobilize to Defend the General Staff: “We Are the Living Wall”
Students from the Faculty of Applied Arts, Architecture, and Philosophy in Belgrade, along with the initiative “Ensemble General Staff,” announced a public gathering for Tuesday under the slogan “We Are the Living Wall.”
They emphasize that this is only a warning action and that more protests will follow, insisting that the General Staff can now only be defended on the streets, since the Serbian Parliament has turned its back on the people.
A Law to Demolish History for Private Profit
The Italian newspaper points out that Serbia’s Parliament has passed a lex specialis, a special law that allows the demolition of a protected cultural monument to make way for Trump’s $500 million luxury hotel project.
This act has drawn international condemnation from major cultural and heritage organizations, including Europa Nostra, a body affiliated with UNESCO, as well as numerous global media outlets.
Corriere della Sera writes that under the headline “Trump Tower in Belgrade: Business and Politics on the Ruins of a Serbian Symbol,” the project represents the largest success of Trump’s so-called “construction diplomacy” and will become the biggest Trump-branded hotel in Europe.
Trump’s Balkan Dream: Profit Over Memory
The article notes that Donald Trump has been eyeing the Belgrade site since 2013, undeterred by investigations into corruption and abuse of power surrounding the fate of the General Staff, once hailed as a masterpiece of Yugoslav modernist architecture.
“Vučić used a special law to bypass all legal and heritage protections,” writes the paper, adding that no previous government dared to touch the site, which had stood as a symbolic reminder of NATO’s 1999 bombing and Serbia’s unresolved trauma over Kosovo.
The Trump–Vučić Nexus: Business, Politics, and Corruption
Corriere della Sera highlights how Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, through his firm Affinity Global Development, is directly involved in the construction, while the project was coordinated by Brad Parscale, Trump’s former campaign strategist and Vučić’s political adviser during Serbia’s 2022 elections.
The report also recalls that Donald Trump Jr. publicly supported Vučić’s administration, which faces massive anti-corruption protests, while Eric Trump confirmed that the Trump Organization intends to expand its European presence with the help of UAE developer Mohamed Alabbar, already a powerful figure in Belgrade’s controversial urban projects.
Despite this blatant conflict of interest and the clear political manipulation of Serbia’s cultural heritage, 130 members of the Serbian Parliament voted in favor of the lex specialis, effectively authorizing the destruction of one of Belgrade’s most iconic historical sites.
A Symbol Sold for Profit
What was once a national symbol of resilience and memory is now being replaced by casinos, penthouses, and luxury spas, all under the guise of “strengthening relations with the United States.”
Critics argue that Vučić’s regime has traded Serbia’s historical dignity for Trump-branded opulence, marking yet another chapter in the country’s systematic erosion of democracy, transparency, and cultural identity.
