Nevis Premier Mark Brantley Says Gaston Browne Should Not Fight EU CBI Ultimatum Alone

Nevis Premier Mark Brantley says Prime Minister Gaston Browne should not be left to confront the European Union alone over its demand that Eastern Caribbean countries end their Citizenship by Investment programmes.

Brantley said Antigua and Barbuda needs the backing of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the Caribbean Community, arguing that the threatened loss of CBI revenue represents a regional economic crisis requiring a coordinated response.

“I, for example, do not believe that Prime Minister Gaston Browne should be speaking for Antigua and Barbuda by himself,” Brantley said during an interview on the Caribbean Business Review.

“I feel that what we should see is the OECS having a position in relation to this. What we should see is CARICOM saying, ‘Hey, EU, this represents an existential threat to some of our members, and we need to talk about it.’”

Five Eastern Caribbean countries — Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia — operate programmes through which qualifying foreign investors can obtain citizenship.

During the interview, host Joseph Cox said the EU wrote to the five countries on June 25 and gave them a June 1, 2028, deadline to discontinue the programmes.

Browne has publicly opposed the demand and said Antigua and Barbuda will not close its programme without proposals for replacing the revenue the country would lose.

Brantley said he agreed with Browne’s position but argued that Antigua and Barbuda would have greater negotiating power if the OECS and CARICOM adopted a common stance.

“And in the case of Antigua and Barbuda, we’ve heard PM Gaston Browne, who has come out quite forcefully, to say to the EU that Antigua will not discontinue its program, absent some indication from the EU as to how they would substitute or assist Antigua to substitute for that foregone revenue,” Brantley said.

“St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Dominica, and Grenada have, for their part, been relatively silent on this matter.”

Brantley described the possible loss of CBI revenue as more than a strategic risk to the affected countries.

“You say that it represents some strategic threat. I would say it goes further,” he said. “I think it’s an existential threat to the economies of the Eastern Caribbean.”

Brantley said the five countries depend on citizenship revenue to varying degrees and would face the challenge of finding alternative income if the programmes are discontinued.

“When we look at St. Lucia, we look at Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and St. Kitts and Nevis, we see varying degrees of dependence, but in every country there is a high degree of dependence on citizenship-by-investment inflows,” he said.

“And we have, in my humble opinion, a crisis on our hands because the question then would be, what do we do to substitute for that loss of revenue?”

Brantley also criticised the apparent absence of the dispute from the recent CARICOM Heads of Government meeting.

“For me, for this not to have been on the agenda, not to have taken up time at the heads meeting is a matter of concern, absolutely a matter of concern,” he said.

He argued that CARICOM should respond collectively when the economic stability of its members is threatened, pointing to the regional support provided to Guyana amid Venezuela’s territorial claim.

Brantley said small Caribbean states possess limited influence when negotiating separately with larger international powers.

“We have the flag and the anthem and the accoutrement, if you will, of independence,” he said. “We have the things that we look to to say that we are sovereign nations. We have a voice at the United Nations. But we must understand that there are practical limitations to that.”

“In global affairs, we are small countries. And Mother Nature, I think, suggests to us that when you’re small, you band together. And that has always been my view.”

Brantley said the region already has institutions capable of developing and advancing a unified diplomatic position.

“You know, a great white shark may swim alone, but, you know, if you have minnows that swim together, their chances of survival are enhanced when they do that,” he said.

“My concern is, Joseph, that we have the institutions, you know, we have the infrastructure that could allow us to have a single voice.”

Brantley said the OECS countries should seek additional time from the EU while accelerating efforts to reduce their economic dependence on CBI proceeds.

“I think five years is far more reasonable than two years,” he said.

He also called for a change in how CBI income is used during the transition.

“I feel that the OECS countries must move to a different model of citizenship by investment where we are now looking at value added as opposed to simply talking about new entrants into these programs,” Brantley said.

He identified renewable energy as one sector that could help Eastern Caribbean countries diversify their economies and reduce their vulnerability to international shocks.

“I do think we need to accelerate our renewable energy thrust,” he said. “I do think we need to start to reorient our economies and allow economies to be insulated from some of these conflicts that we see around the world.”

Brantley pointed to Nevis’ geothermal potential and said the island could eventually supply electricity to neighbouring territories, including Antigua and Barbuda.

“You can imagine, if Nevis had accessed its geothermal, vast geothermal potential, if we were supplying St. Kitts, if we were supplying some of our neighboring islands like Antigua, which has said that they want power from us, that we would have a different perspective insofar as what’s happening in the Strait of Hormuz, or what’s happening in Iran, or what happens in Venezuela, because we would not be as dependent on fossil fuel for our electricity generation,” he said.

Brantley also urged regional governments to draw more heavily on the Caribbean diaspora for investment, expertise and business development.

“We need to start to think outside the box, Joseph,” he said. “We need people like yourself and others who have ideas that we come forward.”

He warned that the international environment is becoming increasingly difficult for small states and said Caribbean countries must take responsibility for building more resilient economies.

“Nobody’s coming to save the Caribbean,” Brantley said. “We have to save ourselves.”

He concluded that declarations of individual sovereignty would not provide the negotiating strength Caribbean governments need when dealing with larger powers.

“A collective approach is a far better approach, particularly when we’re dealing with the middle and large powers,” he said.

“So we need to engage as a group. I started by saying that, I end by saying that, that our leverage is much, much better when we engage together.”

Brantley again criticised the failure to address the CBI dispute at the CARICOM meeting and called for regional leaders to correct the omission.

“And I do regret sincerely that this issue about CBI was not on the CARICOM agenda,” he said. “I think that that’s a failure, and I’m hopeful that it can be corrected at the next go-round.”

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