EU returns gold passports, Montenegro is also in line

Recently, there has been frequent talk of revising the conditions for obtaining Montenegrin citizenship, according to which, in fact, everyone who has historical or family ties with Montenegro could count on its passport. However, no one mentions the benefits that the country has twice received from foreign investors. Instead of introducing dual citizenship, which will open up opportunities for manipulation in the electoral system, Prime Minister Miloik Spajic is being offered to resume the economic citizenship program, says lawyer and professor Milos Vukcevic. The continuation of this program is also recommended by Rade Lumovich, head of the Henley & Partners office in Montenegro and Greece, who recalls that Montenegro has become "a brand in the field of investment migration," writes the publication Pobjeda.

The case of Malta

The hundreds of millions of euros of investments that foreign citizens have made to Montenegro's budget in exchange for the opportunity to obtain its passport is just one of the many positive effects of the program known as "economic citizenship".

"Although the European Commission (EC) has criticized this program, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will soon issue a decision in which it will be found that such allegations are baseless and that the introduction of the "golden passport" by member states does not violate EU rights. Anthony Collins, General Counsel of the CJEU, in the European Commission v. Malta case, suggested that the court dismiss the EC's claim against this country, since it "did not violate EU rights by introducing economic citizenship," Professor Vukcevic told Pobjeda.

After the CJEU approved the position of Collins' lawyer, this court decision may benefit Montenegro as well. Vukcevic noted that the European Commission "highly values the rule of law", which includes the obligation to comply with the decisions of the EU Court of Justice.

"In addition, there is no stronger argument for the state in support of the rule of law than following the decisions of the EU Court of Justice, which does not see violations of the rule of law if the country decides sovereignly how it will regulate the issue of granting its citizenship. Although the opinion of the Advocate General is not binding on the judicial board, it can be expected that the EU Court will take a similar position. If Malta, being an EU member, can do this, then so can Montenegro," says Vukcevic.

The EC argued that the "golden passports" in Malta "contradict EU law," but Collins' lawyer rejected this statement.

Potential billions

Boyan Bugarin, an expert on immigration law and citizenship issues, recently reminded the public that Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Hungary and Malta were among the countries that launched "golden visa" programs for wealthy individuals, giving them access to passports and valuable freedom of movement within the EU.

"The investment migration industry has brought significant profits to Europe, and the participating countries earned more than 21 billion euros from 2011 to 2019," he clarified for the Bankar portal.

The EC has repeatedly insisted that the Montenegrin economic citizenship program, launched in 2019, be terminated due to non-compliance with European directives. Under this program, 2,000 passports were provided, subject to investments of 250,000 euros for projects in the north of the country and 450,000 euros on the coast. This form of investment was cancelled at the end of 2022 due to risks such as money laundering, terrorist financing and organized crime. The then authorities announced their intention to find an alternative to this method of attracting foreign investment, but this never happened.

Although the whole process began under the government of Duska Markovic, the next Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic, as well as Dritan Abazovich, were also not ready to comply with the requirements of the EC. According to the latest data from the Investment Agency, a total of 1,113 applications were submitted. As of October 1, 24 applications were pending a positive decision, 849 applicants had already received Montenegrin passports, and 235 applications received a negative conclusion on international suitability.

Benefits

Rade Lumovich, head of the Henley & Partners office in Montenegro and Greece, which is one of the three agents for mediation in acquiring citizenship through investment, noted the country's success thanks to the economic citizenship program.

"Specifically, 500 million euros of financial impact, new branding hotels built in the north of the country thanks to the program, the state administration, which through four different governments was able to implement such a comprehensive project, the budget of the Innovation Fund, and brilliant applicants, successful people from different industries — these are sufficient grounds to consider the possibility of extending applications to the originally planned number 2,000," he concluded in an interview with Pobjeda.

Vukcevic: The income is more than a billion euros, we need to launch a new program

Vukcevic emphasizes that Montenegro, by continuing the program until the planned 2,000 approved applications are reached, could achieve revenue in excess of a billion euros. He recalls that Montenegro, before the start of the program, received the "green light" from the EC for all 2,000 applications for economic citizenship, and about 1,000 of them were implemented.

"There is an opportunity for 1,000 new applications, but for this it is necessary to present the Montenegrin development prospects to the EC in a fairly transparent and professional manner and provide guarantees that the interests of the EU and member states will be protected. If the decision of the EU Court of Justice is in accordance with the opinion of Attorney General Collins, the EC will no longer be able to criticize Montenegro if it decides to launch a new program," concludes Vukcevic.