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Montenegro “Committed” to Revoking CIP Citizenships of Sanctioned Individuals · IMI Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Montenegro appears ready to revoke citizenship from sanctioned CIP participants.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Following the European Commission's recommendation in its seventh visa suspension mechanism report, Montenegro processed 423 applications under its now terminated Citizenship by Investment Program, also known as CIP, in 2023, granting citizenship to 701 individuals.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Russians and Chinese nationals comprise the largest groups at 396 and 65 new citizens, respectively.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: The Montenegrin government informed the Commission that IDIS committed to initiating proceedings for the loss of Montenegrin citizenship by force of law for any CIP citizen who appears on international sanctions lists.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: The Commission's recommendations for Montenegro emphasize CIP oversight.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: It emphasized that the country must screen and process remaining applications using the highest possible security standards.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: It also stressed that Montenegro should ensure citizenship granted via that scheme to persons subject to international restrictive measures are revoked.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: The CIP also granted citizenship to nationals from numerous visa-restricted countries, including South Africa, Turkey, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, Belarus, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Montenegro ended its CYP on December 31, 2022, but continues to process applications submitted before this deadline.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: The Commission, quote, will continue monitoring any developments in this regard until all pending applications have been processed, end quote.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: The report also highlighted North Macedonia's citizenship law, which allows citizenship for individuals of special economic interest without residence requirements.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: North Macedonia reviewed no such applications in 2023, though five requests await assessment.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: The Commission cautioned that this provision should not lead to a systematic granting of citizenship in return for investment, as it may be used to bypass the European Union short stay visa procedure.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: The Commission has urged North Macedonia to conduct thorough background vetting of applicants under the special economic interest law and avoid systematic citizenship grants based on investment alone.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: This episode first appeared as an article by Amada Bas on IMIDaily.com.
• 2:26
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