BELGRADE, November 11. /TASS/. Protesters in Belgrade are calling for the cancellation of plans to reconstruct the former General Staff building, destroyed during the 1999 NATO bombing, warning that the project would erase a key part of the nation’s heritage.

In a statement shared on social media, activists said that demolishing the building "would mean destroying the people’s right to remember, erasing history, and humiliating every Serbian citizen." "This is a red line. We will not stand by and watch the destruction of the General Staff building, along with the trampling of the law and the constitution," the statement added.

The protesters are demanding the repeal of the so-called lex specialis [a special law enacted for the building’s reconstruction], that the government’s November 14, 2024 decision be declared illegal, and that the building be restored to its status as a cultural heritage site.

"This is our first warning. We will not give up the General Staff!" the protesters emphasized.