Pallade Veneta - Serbian President blames 'witch hunt' for ditched Kushner hotel plan

Affinity Partners, a Miami-based firm associated with Jared Kushner, confirmed to AFP that it is pulling out of the planned project, which has been mired in corruption allegations and public opposition for months.

"Because meaningful projects should unite rather than divide, and out of respect for the people of Serbia and the City of Belgrade, we are withdrawing our application and stepping aside at this time," the statement, first reported in the Wall Street Journal, said.

The announcement came after Serbian Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and three others were indicted over alleged abuse of office and forgery of an official document that had allowed the removal of the site's "cultural-heritage status".

- 'A destroyed building' -

Plans to transform the former Yugoslav army headquarters in Belgrade into a high-rise hotel first stalled in May when allegations emerged that the move to revoke the building's protected status had been based on a forged document.

The allegations re-ignited protests against the development, with demonstrators calling for the towering ruins to be preserved both for their unique modernist architecture and as a memorial to mark the 1999 NATO bombing that left the building damaged.

Vucic, who has faced widespread anti-government protests for over a year, blamed a "witch-hunt conducted against the investor, and against any kind of change" for scuppering the project worth "at least 750 million euros" ($880 million).

He also regularly criticised the investigation into the development and promised retribution against people he said had ruined the deal.

"We will now be left with a destroyed building, and it is only a matter of time before bricks and other parts start falling off it, because no one will ever touch it again," he said.

Protests against Serbia's right-wing government began in November last year after the fatal collapse of a railwaystation roof, which have morphed into calls for snap elections.

- Stalled vision -

Affinity Partners signed a 99-year land deal with the Serbian government last year to redevelop the site shortly after its cultural asset status was revoked.

"Our vision for the Belgrade project was to offer an elegant, uplifting design that honoured Serbia's progress," a spokesman for the firm said.

Kushner, who has been Vucic's guest on several occasions, previously shared images of the planned project on social media, showing two glowing towers on the site.

The brutalist buildings, which largely remain on the site despite significant damage, were completed in 1965 and granted protected status in 2005.

They were designed as an homage to the Sutjeska River canyon, where the Partisans won a decisive battle against German forces in 1943.

The site has remained unrestored since it was repeatedly bombed in 1999 during NATO's air campaign that ended the Kosovo war.

O.Merendino--PV