Malta's 'golden passport' program faces EU legal challenge

The European Commission may start legal proceedings in connection with the program for the issuance of Malta citizenship in exchange for investment, the Times of Malta newspaper writes , citing sources.

According to the publication, members of the commission are discussing the possibility of sending the government of Malta an official notice of violation of EU rules. This is the first stage of preparation for litigation at the interstate level.

The European Commission believes that by “selling” its passports, Malta is moving away from the generally accepted understanding of citizenship as an expression of a special relationship of devotion, solidarity and genuine connection between the state and its population, reports the Times of Malta.

Lawyers of the European Commission came to the conclusion that the program of "golden passports" undermines the mutual trust of the EU member states in each other's decisions on granting citizenship, sources told the publication.

• The Golden Passport program has been operating in Malta since 2014 and from the moment it was launched until July 2019, it has brought more than 800 million euros to the state treasury.

• In 2018, the “golden passports” of Malta received the full namesakes of several Russian businessmen and former deputies of United Russia, RBC found out in January 2020. The namesakes of the former Forbes Top 100 participant and shareholder of AFK Sistema Alexander Gorbatovsky, the founder and board member of the Magnolia network Leonid Lunev, the main owner of Shokoladnitsa Alexander Kolobov, the ex-head of Transnefteprodukt Mikhail Mezhentsev, a tea manufacturer, were on the list. Maisky" by Igor Lisinenko and other businessmen and officials.

• In September, the Maltese authorities tightened the rules of the program. Now, in order to obtain a passport of an island state, it is necessary to live in it for at least a year and invest 750 thousand euros in the country, and not 650 thousand euros, as before. You can invest 600 thousand euros, but in this case you need to spend at least three years in Malta. Also doubled, to 700 thousand euros, the minimum cost of housing, which must be purchased on the territory of the state.

• Last week, the Cypriot authorities announced they were canceling their golden passport program following Al Jazeera's investigations into citizenship irregularities. The person involved in one of these investigations, the speaker of the Cypriot parliament, later resigned.