Development abandoned after Serbian minister indicted over $500m project, in setback for Trump family empire
Serbia’s authoritarian ruler has threatened reprisals after protesters and a prosecutor thwarted plans for a Trump Tower in Belgrade.
In a rare setback for the Trump family’s global moneymaking campaign, the $500m development was abandoned after Monday’s indictment of a Serbian minister on suspicion of abusing his office to support the project.
“We have lost an exceptional investment,” Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia’s embattled president, said on Tuesday. “I will personally ensure that everyone who participated in causing this damage is held accountable.”
Vučić, whose cosiness with Russia’s Vladimir Putin has left him few western allies, had personally courted the Trumps. But thousands of demonstrators have staged protests at the site of the proposed hotel and apartment building, a historically resonant spot long off-limits to developers.
