(ANSA) - BRUXELLES, 05 MAR - Montenegro's national programme 'Golden Visa' could prevent the country to join the European Union, ngo Transparency International says in its Occrp project, dedicated to State programmes renamed 'Golden Visa' that countries use to guarantee citizenship to external investors.

"One has to be very careful with such programs, as they are often and very easily abused," Transparency International coordinator Cornelia Abel points out. In a paper on Montenegro, ngo reports some 'excellent' people who in recent years have obtained the visa without adding any value to the Montenegrin economy at all, from the former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, convicted of corruption but granted with citizenship in 2010, to Mohammed Dahlan, a Palestinian leader who received the Montenegrin passport in 2010, although accused of embezzling state funds in Palestine.

"In Hungary, the profits from such programs do not benefit the country," but travel via offshore tax havens, Abel explained, thus warning against the risk that the 'golden-visa' programs could open Montenegro's doors to criminals, " potentially fostering terrorism and insecurity ".

The proposal to invest in the local economy in order to obtain a visa must be "strictly controlled", so that it benefits the country, not single interests", the ngo highlights. Countries deemed financially "dangerous" "are often sanctioned by the EU.

It would definitely mean a setback" for Montenegro, Abel added.(ANSA).