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Why are Kushner's investments in Albania and Serbia being investigated?

2024-09-30 11:54:18Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Jared Kushner

The head of diplomacy in Serbia, Marko Djuric, declared that the authorities of his country are ready to cooperate with the United States of America for the investigations of the investments planned in Belgrade by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of the former American president, Donald Trump.

Djuriq answered in the negative to the question whether, during his time as ambassador in Washington, he had knowledge of the investigation that the Senate Finance Committee of the US Congress is conducting on the activities of the company of the son-in-law of the former US president, Donald Trump.

While Albania, where Kushner has also planned investments, so far has not reacted to an investigation launched by the Finance Committee of the US Senate related to them.

Potential investments in Albania and Serbia by the Affinity firm, owned by Kushner, have become part of an investigation launched by US Senator Ron Wyden on the possible political influence of foreign governments on the Trump family.

Wyden, chairman of the Committee on Finance in the US Senate, on September 24 started an official letter to Kushner's company, Affinity Partners, through which he requested information about these investments.

In the letter, he casts doubt on the details of potential investments in the two countries and whether this gives foreign governments "potential control with the possibility of coercion over the investments of the family of the possible next president of the United States."

Donald Trump is already the nominee of the Republicans for president of the USA in the November elections.

In the previous Trump administration, Kushner held the role of senior adviser to the president.

The Committee on Finance in the US Senate deals with matters related to taxation and revenue in general, and has the authority to investigate, review, and evaluate existing laws and the agencies that enforce them.

Kushner, who founded his company in 2021, made public in March of this year plans for investments in Albania and Serbia, both foreseen in the value of over 1 billion dollars.

While in Serbia the plans have been concretized with a government agreement with his firm, in Albania they still remain "an expression of interest" for investment.

Among other things, the senator raises doubts about the fact that Kushner's firm is said to be financed entirely by foreign investors and in the majority by a fund of the Government of Saudi Arabia, while other funds include those of the governments of Qatar and the Emirates. the United Arab Emirates among others.

According to the letter, these funds are disbursed gradually and are expected to reach a total value of $3 billion by 2026.

However, the senator adds that Kushner's company has yet to "generate any profit for his investors."

In his letter, the chairman of the Committee also expresses concern about the level of influence that these foreign governments could have on the family of the candidate for the presidency of the USA, Donald Trump, if he is elected president again.

"This creates a situation where the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will have significant leverage over the Trump family if they threaten to withdraw their investments and stop paying millions of dollars in fees to Kushner and, at the same time, the daughter of Trump, Ivanka Trump," the letter says.

For the purpose of further investigation, the senator has asked the Affinity company for detailed data on funds and investment plans and has requested answers to these questions by October 9.

Radio Free Europe has so far been unable to get a comment from the Kushner company on the matter.

In a statement to the New York Times, Affinity called Wyden's letter a political move, adding that the firm had followed all federal laws and ethics rules.

In March, Kushner posted several pictures on social networks of his firm's potential investment designs in Albania.

He had said that he intends to transform Albania's largest island, Sazan, in the Mediterranean Sea, into a luxury destination for tourists.

This largely abandoned island is currently a military base and is semi-open to the public.

Kushner has also said he intends to build several hotels and hundreds of villas in Zvërnec, a coastal area in Vlora, southern Albania.

So far, according to Albanian authorities, the company has expressed official interest in being a potential investor in Sazan and will undergo the evaluation process.

In the past, regarding Zvrnec, the Government had said that it has not officially received any expression of interest regarding this investment.

Kushner's plans faced opposition in Albania, especially from environmentalists who say they could cause damage to protected coastal areas.

On the other hand, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, on March 19, had said that "the state's participation in Jared Kushner's planned investment on the island of Sazan will be negotiated."

Rama had added that for the investments in Sazan Island, the Government led by him "does not choose people, but based on the Albanian legislation we refer to the offers and proposals that are made to us".

On the other hand, in Wyden's latest letter, it is stated that "Affinity indicated to the Committee that the Serbian and Albanian Governments initially approached individuals associated with the company Affinity regarding an investment in potential projects".

Thus, the senator has requested that the company show who exactly approached the company to discuss possible investment plans.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Albania has not yet responded to REL's questions regarding this issue.

The same concerns with the investments in Albania, the senator also expressed about those in Serbia, except for the latter, Wyden says that it can also lead to the rewriting of history in an "anti-American" context.

On May 15, Serbia signed an agreement for the revitalization of the former Federal Secretariat for National Defense complex with Kushner's company Affinity.

Kushner's company plans to build a business-residential complex on the site of the former General Staff in Belgrade.

The General Staff building was bombed on the night between April 29 and 30 and on May 7 and 8, 1999, by NATO forces.

NATO began bombing the former Yugoslavia on March 24 of that year in response to the persecution of Albanians in Kosovo by Serbian security forces.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure in the Government of Serbia, Goran Veši?, said in May that the investor Affinity has an obligation to build a memorial complex dedicated to all the victims of the NATO bombings on the same plot.

Exactly this point, Wyden has seen as problematic since he says that the monument was described as dedicated to "victims of NATO aggression".

"It is completely inappropriate for a foreign government to ask an American company to participate in that kind of anti-American historical revisionism, an act that covers up ethnic cleansing and genocide and falsely portrays NATO as an antagonist, and it is outrageous that a firm founded and owned by the family of a former president and potential future president of the United States would agree to this," the letter states.

REL has addressed questions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia regarding this issue, but so far has not received an answer. REL.


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