Montenegro

Country expert: Jelena Dzankic


CITSEE papers on Montenegro

• Lineages of Citizenship in Montenegro

Author: Jelena Dzankic

Abstract

This paper explores the evolution of citizenship policies in Montenegro. It employs Richard Bellamy’s concept of the lineages of citizenship, which analyses the normative aspects of citizenship by looking at interactions between ‘state and society within a given national political community’. In unveiling the processes and the context that shaped the Montenegrin citizenship policies at different times, the paper examines the active relationship between three major aspects of citizenship: legal, political and identity/emotional. Following a historical overview of the development of citizenship policies, this paper focuses on the recent political circumstances that have shaped the normative aspects of citizenship. As such, it also triggers questions about what layer of identity the citizenship legislation in fact encapsulates. The final part of the paper examines the multivalence of citizenship in the context of Europeanisation. Transiting ‘the European route’ has, in fact, recalibrated the relationship between the legal, political and emotional/identity aspects of citizenship in Montenegro.

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• Transformations of Citizenship in Montenegro: a context-generated evolution of citizenship policies

Author: Jelena Dzankic

Abstract

This paper argues that in Montenegro, unlike in the other successor states of the former Yugoslavia, citizenship was not a mechanism of ethnic homogenization. Rather, it was a tool of political manoeuvring that changed in content alongside the changes of the political environment. The paper includes a historical background of citizenship policies, an analysis of the current citizenship regime, and an overview of the current debates. This second version of the paper also includes an analysis of the most recent changes to Montenegro’s citizenship regime, including ‘citizenship-by-investment’.

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This paper has been produced in close collaboration with the European Union Democracy Observatory on Citizenship (EUDO-Citizenship) and has been made available as a EUDO country report on http://www.eudo-citizenship.eu/. The paper followed the EUDO structure for country reports presenting historical background, current citizenship regimes and recent debates on citizenship matters in the country under scrutiny.

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