Europa Nostra and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Institute have placed the General Staff complex in central Belgrade on the 2025 list of 7 most endangered heritage sites. Pročitaj više

The 7 Most Endangered monuments and heritage sites in Europe program was launched in 2013 dedicated to saving Europe’s heritage at risk to mobilize expertise, halt unsuitable development, and/or ensure public and private support, including funding. Each listed site is eligible for an EIB Heritage Grant of €10,000 to assist in implementing an agreed activity that will contribute to the site’s preservation.

The 7 sites were selected on the basis of their heritage significance and cultural value, as well as on the basis of the serious danger that they are facing as well as the engagement of local communities and commitment to save the sites.

The General Staff complex in central Belgrade is considered an iconic symbol of modernist architectural heritage in Serbia designed by Nikola Dobrovic and built between 1953 and 1964 to house the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense. Significant parts of the building were severely damaged during the NATO airstrikes in 1999.

The press release recalled that a recent announcement that the Serbian government signed an agreement with a private US investor to demolish the complex to make space for a hotel and real-estate redevelopment project have sparked public outrage. “The proposed redevelopment would destroy a protected building and would have a massive detrimental impact on the protected historic administrative quarter in the centre of Belgrade. Moreover, such a redevelopment would be in breach of the legal protection of this architectural and urbanistic ensemble, which was introduced in 2005 but removed at the end of 2024 by the Government of Serbia in violation of the provisions of the National Law on Cultural Heritage and against the expert view of the national Institute for Monuments Protection,” it said.

The complex was nominated by Europa Nostra Serbia with the support of 22 organisations and academic institutions.