Eurasia Press & News
The Christian Social Union (CSU) on Tuesday criticized Montenegro’s decision to introduce an economic citizenship for well-known businesspeople.
The party, a member of the ruling coalition of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, requested a reintroduction of the visa regime for Montenegro.
The EU lifted its visa requirements for the country late last year.
CSU expert on internal policy and legal issues Stephen Mayer said that the decision of the Montenegrin government to grant economic citizenships is an open provocation to the European Union and its integration policy on the Western Balkan region, Radio Free Europe reports.
Mayer told Britain’s news agency Reuters that the decision under which it is enough to invest an amount of EUR 500,000 in the country to gain its citizenship was “rather questionable”.
“Everyone who is willing to pay this amount can now travel to Germany and other EU countries without a visa, as long as they haven’t been convicted of a crime there previously,” he added.
The Montenegrin government on Monday announced its program dubbed “economic citizenship”, under which “businessmen of credible world reputation” will be able to acquire a Montenegrin passport by directly investing a minimum of EUR 500,000.
