The Serbian government has approved a contract with Jared Kushner on plans to build a luxury hotel on the site of the former defense ministry in Belgrade, putting him directly into business with a European state as his father-in-law, Donald J. Trump, vies to return to the White House. Mr. Kushner is pursuing the $500 million hotel project in partnership with Richard Grenell. A former Trump administration aide, Mr. Grenell first proposed that U.S. investors attempt to redevelop the long-vacant bombed-out site of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense while Mr. Grenell was still a diplomat, serving as a special envoy to the Balkans. The deal, which provoked protests in Belgrade on Thursday, is with an affiliate of Mr. Kushner’s Affinity Partners, the three-year-old, $3 billion investment fund backed by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. “The government of Serbia has chosen a reputable American company as a partner in this venture, which will invest in the revitalization of the former Federal Secretariat for National Defense complex,” a Serbian government official said in a statement released on Wednesday.

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Persons: Jared Kushner, Donald J, Trump, vies, Kushner, Richard Grenell, Grenell Organizations: Serbian, Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, Mr, Kushner’s Affinity Partners, Federal Secretariat, National Defense Locations: Belgrade, Balkans, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, American