European Parliament blasts Maltas decision to sell EU citizenship STRASBOURG, France - Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg adopted a resolution criticizing the decision of Malta to sell passports to the foreigners. They noted that Valletta is going to sell EU citizenship, which means that all 28 EU members must agree to that. The price of Maltese passport for non-EU citizen will be 650,000 euros. Apparently Malta does not require that the buyers neither reside on the island, nor own real estate there. A citizen of Malta can move freely across the EU, so the decision affects all member-countries - said Liberal MEP Jan Mulder from the Netherlands. The idea to replenish its coffers with sale of citizenship is not new. Citizenship is offer to the owners of large bank accounts in Cyprus and Austria, permanent residency can be bought in Portugal, Greece, Belgium and Hungary. Portuguese MEP Green Rui Tavares questioned the morality of this business, EU countries are vying with each other for wealthy foreigners, we sell not only visas, but what is priceless - nationality. Europe has decided not to allow the poor in, but it opened its borders to those who have a lot of money. Observers suggest that the citizen of Malta will be purchased by 200-300 people a year, mostly - the Russians and Chinese. The Maltese authorities insist that applicants for passports will undergo a rigorous legal check. The proceeds will go to the Maltas national development fund.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:35:00 +0000
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