The practice of many EU countries issuing passports or visas for generous investments should be stopped in light of the war.
The controversial issue of “golden” EU passports to wealthy investors from all over the world has been causing irritation in Brussels for a long time – with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this practice, which is common in some EU countries, is now to be finally banned own-initiative report of the EU Parliament, which was approved with a large majority. According to the text, the granting of residence permits for sale is associated with serious security risks for EU citizens – for example with money laundering and corruption.
MEPs are now calling on the EU Commission to submit a corresponding legislative proposal. “Golden” passports should be banned, and the issuing of “golden” visas should be subject to strict criteria, such as examining the origin of the funds. According to the will of the parliamentarians, no more visas or passports should be issued to Russian candidates.
No more new requests
Three EU countries currently issue purchasable citizenships: Malta, Cyprus and Bulgaria. However, no more new applications are accepted in Cyprus, and in Bulgaria an end to the practice introduced almost ten years ago, from which the wealthy Chinese and Russians in particular will benefit, is at least envisaged: the program has not resulted in significant investments in the Bulgarian economy as intended led, it is said in Sofia. Malta, on the other hand, recently announced that it would no longer issue “golden” passports to Russians and Belarusians.
As early as 2020, the EU Commission initiated infringement proceedings against Cyprus and Malta. In June 2021, the Brussels authority also sent a letter to Sofia threatening legal action. Malta argues that issuing passports is a matter for the national states.
If the European Parliament has its way, the granting of residence rights in exchange for generous investments should also be made a punishable offence.
Twelve Member States are currently issuing “golden” visas, including the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece. It is estimated that between 2011 and 2019 more than 132,000 people obtained residence permits or citizenship in EU member states through such purchasable visas or “golden” passports, in exchange for at least €21.4 billion in investments. The amount of investment required varies significantly: if an interested party has to pay 127,000 euros in Bulgaria, it is 1.2 million euros in the Netherlands.
(WHAT)