Montenegro will revise all issued honorary citizenships. The TV presenter Ekaterina Andreeva has such citizenship

Prime Minister Montenegro Milogo Spayich initiated a large-scale verification of all issued honorary citizens of the country. Earlier, the Navalny team found out what the Russian TV presenter Channel One Ekaterina Andreeva has such honorary citizenship. She received it in 2011 for special merits to the country. Thanks to this citizenship, Andreev can travel without a visa to the European Union, which he successfully does even after the start of the full -scale war of Russia against Ukraine, the authors of the investigation noted.

Spayich’s decision is connected with the case against a businessman from Kosovo Naser Ramai. He is accused of evading more than 2.2 million euros of taxes. The prosecutor’s office accuses Ramaya and Valentin Bludovich of leading Alart Centar Budva, they did not declare income from the sale of real estate. The court in which approved the indictment.

Ramai received in a short time honorary citizenship in October 2023 for investments in the Porto Budva project. Honorary citizenship in Montenegro is provided at the proposal of senior officials of the state. Ramai’s citizenship appropriated the government of the former Prime Minister Dritan Abazovich.

Now the current Prime Minister expresses serious doubts about the legality of this procedure: the positive conclusion of the Ministry of Finance issued earlier was not accompanied by a test of the real activity of Ramai in the country. Spayich noted that the assignment of citizenship to a person under investigation for financial crimes can seriously damage the international reputation of Montenegro and its relations with the EU.

Now, according to the prime minister, as part of the authorities, the authorities will assess the real contribution of “honorary citizens” to the economy and the development of Montenegro. The prime minister emphasized: if it turns out that citizenship was issued “as personal services”, without transparent criteria, this will undermine confidence in state institutions and contribute to corruption.

According to the Civil Education Center, by the end of 2022, more than a thousand honorary citizenships were issued in Montenegro. Under the pressure of the European Commission, the Economic Passport program was officially terminated, but the processing of old applications is still ongoing. The European Commission indicated high risks associated with security, money laundering and corruption that this practice creates. Montenegro hopes to complete the negotiations on joining the EU by the end of 2025 and become a full member of the Union in 2028, but has so far closed less than 20% of the negotiation topics related to the EU requirements for membership members in the association.