In October 2017, the tiny country of Montenegro was abuzz. Nestled in the mountains along the Adriatic coast and with a population of merely 620,000, it’s a place that has been overlooked by many. Formerly a part of Yugoslavia, it remained an appendage of Serbia until it gained full independence in 2006.
Given the country’s size, it didn’t take much to create a lot of hype for the Global Citizen Forum. In the capital city of Podgorica, billboards projected mammoth images of the event’s headline speakers, a glitterati lineup including actor Robert De Niro, musician Wyclef Jean, and General Wesley Clark.
Along the coastline, black-and-gold forum banners lined the highway, challenging drivers to “inspire change” and “provoke innovation.” At the airport, posters greeted new arrivals by proclaiming, “The future starts now: keep the conversation going.” Over two days, nearly four hundred participants would gather in the small Balkan country to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world today. Millionaires milled around the samovars and chatted with DJs and supermodels. Prime ministers and politicians dropped in by helicopter. Filling the spaces in between was a hodgepodge of philanthropists, NGO workers, bankers, creatives, and a few royals.
There was little hint as to what was actually financing the lavish proceedings: golden passports.
Several guests I talked to had never even heard of golden passports. When the topic came up, it was almost in passing. Still, it lurked in the background. A representative from the Montenegrin government in one session described the new citizenship by investment (CBI) program they were planning:
It’s a way to attract people who have knowledge and experience to come and teach others, and to move the country forward. If executed and monitored properly, it’s a big opportunity for countries like Montenegro. . . . We don’t want to sell passports; we want to buy excellence.
I spoke with him and a few…
Auteur: Kristin Surak
