The complex of buildings that once housed the General Staff of the Yugoslav and Serbian Armed Forces, which the outgoing government initially wanted to demolish and then sell to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is also part of the Student List’s program. According to a source who spoke to Nova, the group has already defined the first steps it intends to take regarding this cultural landmark.
The General Staff complex appears to have been a potential “gold mine” for Aleksandar Vučić’s outgoing administration, which was determined to make use of it at any cost — first by proposing its demolition and then by selling it to someone who would have torn it down anyway and built a lavish hotel on the site.
None of that happened, however. Estela Radonjić Živkov, a conservation expert, one of the key witnesses in the proceedings against Culture Minister Nikola Selaković, and a candidate on the Student List, has now outlined what could happen to the complex next.
“What we urgently need to do for the General Staff, from a legal and procedural standpoint, is fully restore its protected cultural heritage status. There are currently two options. One is for the Constitutional Court to resume its work and overturn the government’s decision. I would remind you that an initiative to that effect was submitted almost two years ago. This would, in a way, legally challenge the special law,” Radonjić Živkov explained to our outlet.
The second option, she added, would be for the National Assembly to adopt such a decision.
“If that cannot be achieved through the legislative route, or through the courts, then the National Assembly will probably have to make that decision. Regardless, the heritage protection authorities will prepare a new proposal to designate the General Staff as an immovable cultural heritage site, this time of exceptional importance. In other words, its classification will be upgraded, thereby restoring full legal protection, whichever way we choose to approach the matter,” she said.
The next step will be to reassess the structural stability of the buildings, our source added.
“We need to repeat the assessment and carry out a new structural stability evaluation, with a structural engineering project presumably prepared by the Faculty of Civil Engineering. After that, we can begin discussing its restoration and reconstruction, how this should be done, and what purpose the complex should serve. In any case, its use must remain public.”
Restoration and reconstruction
Radonjić Živkov explained that work on reconstructing the General Staff complex should begin as soon as possible, since reconstruction is entirely permissible.
“Reconstruction is fully permitted, given that the complex was destroyed during the bombing. Restoration is possible in accordance with all conservation standards,” she stressed.
Although existing structural analyses have shown that restoration is possible, new data must nevertheless be obtained before any decisions are made, she emphasized.
“We need to obtain updated information, because a considerable amount of time has passed, and then begin a professional discussion about how the complex should be restored. What matters is that it will certainly be restored. The only question is exactly how.”
Experts, not politicians
The conservation expert believes that decisions concerning the General Staff should be made by professionals, not politicians.
“We will leave it to the experts to decide how the General Staff should be preserved and what form that preservation should take. There is absolutely no doubt about that.”
She stressed that the new National Assembly must first be constituted so that the incoming authorities can obtain all the documentation relating to the General Staff case.
“The Student List has not yet taken power. We do not even have a constituted National Assembly, let alone the ministries where all the documentation is held. It is not just in the Ministry of Culture, but across several other institutions as well. The next hearing is scheduled for the 23rd, and we hope the court has primarily examined those documents since the investigations began, which means there are grounds to suspect wrongdoing. We hope the court, or rather the prosecution, will continue its work.”
She said she was aware of the condition in which she and her colleagues would find the Ministry of Culture.
“The situation is certainly far from good, simply because the General Staff is not the only issue. The entire heritage protection sector has been significantly degraded, and cultural heritage is under considerable threat. Not to mention the new court case concerning Hotel Jugoslavija, which, unfortunately, had never been officially designated as a cultural heritage site. Many villas and entire areas of Belgrade will undoubtedly come under scrutiny, including Neimar, Vračar, Dedinje, Slobodište, the Fairgrounds and others,” she said.
She emphasized that all cultural heritage sites would undergo a detailed assessment.
“The first step will certainly be a thorough analysis of cultural heritage, including projects that are currently underway or under threat, as well as those that have not yet attracted attention. Any work that has already begun will be halted if necessary,” our source explained.
Estela Radonjić Živkov is also a witness in the proceedings against Culture Minister Nikola Selaković and three other defendants in the General Staff case.
“I expect the facts and evidence to establish independently what happened and whether anyone bears criminal responsibility for it. I am a witness in these proceedings, and my role is neither to pass judgment nor to assess who is guilty. My obligation is to tell the court the truth about what I know and what I witnessed firsthand,” she said.
She believes the court will establish the facts.
“I want to believe that it will. The General Staff case has shown me just how important it is for institutions to be able to do their jobs without political pressure. That applies to cultural heritage protection institutions, but even more so to the prosecution and the courts.”
First its protected status was revoked, then the sale was arranged
The General Staff complex went through several stages under the outgoing administration.
First, in November 2024, the Government of Serbia revoked the cultural monument status that the complex had held since 2005.
The Serbian authorities, led by Aleksandar Vučić, then decided to sell the property to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. However, following public pressure and protests in defense of the General Staff complex, Kushner withdrew from the deal.
Soon afterwards, the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime filed an indictment proposal against Culture Minister Nikola Selaković, who was serving in a technical capacity, and several other individuals on suspicion of abuse of office and interference with documentation in order to have the complex’s protected status revoked.
The trials are still ongoing.
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Source: Nova.rs, Foto: ATA Images
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