Buying out historical memory

For 25 years, the bombed-out remnants of the former Yugoslav army headquarters in the center of Belgrade, targeted by NATO airstrikes in 1999, stood as a stark reminder of the brutality endured by the Serbian nation during the Kosovo war.

It became a notable attraction in Belgrade, featured on lists by many tourist agencies, and often served as a site where Serbs would pay their respects with flowers.

Now, the Americans are revisiting this “crime scene,” not with bombs of uranium, but with dollars. The Serbian government is in negotiations over the poignant symbol with an American company tied to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US President Donald Trump, who said the plan is to construct a tower reminiscent of Trump Tower in New York City.

There likely wouldn’t have been much objection if the destroyed building had been acquired by Chinese, Russians or Arabs. But the American foes?

In a poignant analogy, Politico website commented, “It’s as if the Taliban wanted to build a luxury apartment compound on the site of New York’s Twin Towers.”

Thus far, few voices have been raised in protest, and those that have seem to have fallen on deaf ears. President Aleksandar Vucic, a man who has strong political control over the country, wants the “enemy money” even if it means investing in the physical and psychological ruins of the nation. At the same time, he deems that the project would help appease the Americans as he continues to flirt politically with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This conundrum is not unique to the Serbs. The Vietnamese also exchanged dollars for the atrocities inflicted upon them by the Americans during the war. I had the privilege of covering late Greek president Karolos Papoulias’ visit to Vietnam in 2008, an experience that unfolded as a sobering revelation. Instead of witnessing the triumphs of the “heroic Vietnamese people,” the visitors were in for a strong shock.

Outside of Hanoi, for instance, we encountered scores of children residing in a facility that were born with deformities caused by their parents’ exposure to Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the Americans to strip the forests and expose Viet Cong hideouts (many such children are still born today).

We were informed that post-war, the Vietnamese initiated an international campaign against the Americans to ensure the atrocities weren’t forgotten. However, along the way, their silence was seemingly bought with hundreds of millions of dollars and numerous Fulbright scholarships.

Just as in Vietnam, the cynical adage “everything has a price” rings true in Serbia once again, even if we are talking about the dignity of a nation.