Latest / IMI Podcasts / “Our Citizenship Is Far More Difficult to Obtain Than an EU Visa”: Antigua PM at EU Parliamentary Assembly

Transcript

“Our Citizenship Is Far More Difficult to Obtain Than an EU Visa”: Antigua PM at EU Parliamentary Assembly · IMI Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Prime Minister Gaston Brown of Antigua and Barbuda used the first ever session of the EU Caribbean Parliamentary Assembly to mount a public defense of Caribbean citizenship by investment programs, calling them lawful transparent development tools that have been strengthened with direct input from the EU, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: The Assembly, held in Antigua from February 16th to 18th, is a new institutional body created under the Samoa Agreement, which succeeded the Katanu Agreement in January 2024, and governs EU relations with 77 African, Caribbean, and Pacific states for the next 20 years.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: It brings together one parliamentarian from each Caribbean State Party and an equal number of members of the European Parliament.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: The 15 Caribbean delegations include all five Eastern Caribbean CBI jurisdictions, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Kitts, and Nevis, and St.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Lucia.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Brown framed CBI programs as essential fiscal instruments for small island states with limited economic alternatives.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: The programs have helped finance hurricane recovery, climate-resilient infrastructure, health care, education, and fiscal stability, he told delegates.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: The Prime Minister acknowledged the need for integrity, but insisted reforms have already taken place.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Quote, we recognize that integrity is essential, and we have acted accordingly, tightening vetting, enhancing regulation, and expanding international cooperation, end quote, Brown said.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: He then made what may be his sharpest public argument on the subject to date, that the due diligence, biometrics, and residency requirements attached to CBI programs make obtaining Caribbean citizenship far more difficult and less risky than other third country nationals obtaining non-immigrant EU visas.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: He added that the perceived risks associated with our citizens accessing the European Union are exacerbated.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: The implication is that the EU's own visa issuance processes face comparable or greater security gaps, a contention Brussels is unlikely to accept, but which reframes the debate on terms more favorable to Caribbean governments.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Brown struck a calibrated tone on sovereignty.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Citizenship policy remains a sovereign responsibility, he said, before quickly adding, but sovereignty does not preclude dialogue.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: He characterized Antigua's engagement with the EU as, quote, evidence-based, technically grounded, and as respectful of our development realities as we are respectful of your concerns, end quote.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: The phrasing positions CBI reform as a cooperative process rather than a capitulation to external pressure, and it implicitly rejects the European Commission's December 2025 recommendation that Caribbean nations tighten vetting only pending the discontinuation of their CBI programs.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Brown's most pointed remarks came when he linked the CBI question to the broader principle of movement between the two regions.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Quote, a modern EU-Caribbean relationship must therefore support legitimate, secure, and predictable movement, fully consistent with security requirements, but not constrained by unnecessary friction and exaggerated fears about our investment immigration programs.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: End quote, he said.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: The reference to exaggerated fears lands differently in February 2026 than it might have a year earlier.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Since December 2025, the European Commission has stated that operating a CBI program in itself constitutes grounds for suspending visa-free travel to the Schengen area.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: The United States, meanwhile, has suspended immigrant visas for all five Caribbean CBI nations.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Brown's remarks amount to a plea for proportionality at a moment when proportionality is in short supply.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: For Caribbean CBI nations, the Assembly offers something they have lacked: a formal, recurring parliamentary forum to present their case directly to European legislators, rather than through commission communiques or bilateral diplomatic cables.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: Whether the forum produces results or merely speeches remains to be seen, but the venue itself represents an upgrade in the Caribbean's institutional access to EU decision makers.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Brown used the broader address to push for deliverables on trade, arguing that the EU Caraforum Economic Partnership Agreement, signed in 2008, has failed to deliver in practice.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Climate finance, and the EU's Global Gateway Investment Initiative.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: But the CBI defense was the core message aimed at the European parliamentarians in the room.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: When those weaken, our vulnerability grows, he said of the international legal frameworks on which small states depend.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Quote, it is felt first by small open economies such as ours in the Caribbean.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: But as Europe has come to learn, that vulnerability does not remain contained.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: It spreads outward and eventually reaches even middle powers, end quote.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Antigua and Barbuda's CBI program, established in 2013, currently requires a minimum contribution of$230,000 to the National Development Fund, referred to as NDF, for a family of up to$4,000 or$245,000 for larger families.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Alternative routes include real estate investment, minimum$300,000, business investment, at$400,000 in a joint venture from a total of$1.5 million, and a University of the West Indies Fund contribution, at$260,000 for families of six or more.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: The program is one of only two Caribbean CBI programs, alongside Dominica's, that triggered the Trump administration's initial December 2025 travel restrictions, which cited the absence of a residency requirement.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Antigua subsequently negotiated partial relief, securing continued access for nationals holding valid U.S.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: visas issued before December 31, 2025, and has signaled it may extend its physical presence requirement to 90 days over five years in response to American concerns.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: The program currently requires five days of physical presence within the first five years of citizenship.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: The proposed 30-day mandatory residency requirement under the draft Eastern Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Regulatory Authority Agreement would harmonize this standard across all five Caribbean CBI nations.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: This episode first appeared as an article by Mustafa Daily on IMIDaily.com.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Subscribe for free to the IMI newsletter for breaking news and updates from the investment migration industry, and upgrade your membership to IMI Pro to get access to our exclusive professional community, citizenship catalog, investment migration company Rolodex, private briefings, and more members only content.