In an open letter, today the conservators of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments publicly objected to the cancellation of the status of immovable cultural property of the buildings of the General Staff of the Army of Serbia and Montenegro and the Ministry of Defense. The letter has 51 expert signatures.
At the same time, they gave support to the signatories of the Declaration on the Fate of the General Staff and the Belgrade Fair, which consists of 30 professional associations and over 6000 individuals.
It was announced on Tuesday that Dubravka Djukanovic the director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments refused the request of the Ministry of Economy to start the process of revoking the status of a cultural monument of the General Staff complex and that, under such pressure, resigned.
Yesterday it was confirmed that Olivera Vučković, director of the City Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, did the same, for the same reason.
We are waiting for Monday, the deadline by which Dubravka Đukanović and Olivera Vučković should officially declare whether they will refuse to participate in the demolition of the cultural monument, which the state intends, or whether they will follow the law and the profession. If they do not agree, the Ministry of Economy, i.e. Minister Siniša Mali, and the Ministry of Construction, whose Minister Goran Vesić concluded an agreement on renting the General Staff complex for 99 years, will find their replacements who will do what is asked of them.
What did Vesić sign?
The news that the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia, Goran Vesić, on behalf of the Government of Serbia, signed with the American company Affinity Global Development "Agreement on the revitalization of the complex of the former Federal Secretariat for National Defense (SSNO), which is located on the corner of Kneza Miloša and Nemanjina streets" in in the center of Belgrade, was published on May 15. It was said that this company will "invest in the revitalization of the complex of the former SSNO". According to the agreement on the alleged revitalization, the complex of facilities known as the General Staff will be restored 25 years after it was destroyed in the NATO bombing, with the explanation that "when this area is revitalized, it will contribute to the development of Belgrade and Serbia."
It is not known what Vesić actually signed, because the contract is not available to the public, and what was mentioned a moment ago is the only thing that is known about it.
What is disputed?
However, even in what the state wanted (dare?) to publish, there are a number of disputed elements.
When you say revitalization, it seems that some people will revitalize that building, that is, that they will respect the law on the protection of cultural monuments and restore it to the way it was, and that they will return it to its primary purpose. However, when you see what the company with which the state cooperates is doing, you realize that it is another attempt to put private interest before the public one. when the land is de facto gifted to that investor, and as stated on the website, it is given for 99 years of use.
If you ask yourself why it is rented, because if the state rents a part of Belgrade for a century, why didn't it give it away, you will see that de facto it was given away. Namely, our law and positive practice equate a 99-year lease with the transfer of property rights.
So with that contract, that land was de facto gifted, thus defrauding both the law and the Constitution, which oblige all citizens, especially public office holders, to take care of Serbia's public goods.
The financial conditions of the contract remain unknown, except that "the investor undertook the obligation that, if he does not complete the investment within the period specified in the contract, he will return the land and what is built until then to the Republic of Serbia without compensation"!? Also, the investor undertook to build on the same plot a Memorial Complex dedicated to all the victims of NATO in the FRY in 1999, which will be "owned by the Republic of Serbia", and whose appearance will be determined at an international public architectural competition.
What does the partner intend?
According to the representative of the American partner, this contract "not only represents a fusion of American and Serbian innovation, but also shows respect for domestic artistic expression." In what way they will respect the artistic expression of the architectural value - it is not written.
Based on the Internet, the Americans have no intention of revitalizing, but have decided to completely demolish the entire General Staff complex and build in its place an architectural block with an inappropriate density of buildings, floors and outdated architecture, dominated by three towers each 150 meters high.
The planned American complex in the center of Belgrade will also include the Old General Staff Building, the so-called Baumgarten or Stone Palace - an immovable cultural asset and cultural monument of great importance, where after the First World War it was the headquarters of the army of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and an immovable cultural asset and cultural monument of the neighboring barracks complex 7 regiment, the place where the command of the famous Danube Division was located in the First World War.
Why is it important for the state to take away the status of cultural property and protection from the General Staff complex even though it rented it? So that her American partner could do what he wanted with that part of the city and on it.
The profession and the public are ready to prevent this from happening.
