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EU getting ready to crack down on disputed 'golden passport' scheme
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Protesters demonstrating against corruption outside the Filoxenia Conference Centre in Nicosia, Cyprus, on Oct 14, 2020.
PHOTO: AFP
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Markus Ziener Global Affairs Correspondent In Berlin , Markus Ziener
For Malta, issuing passports has become a gold mine. The small island in the Mediterranean raked in between €1 billion (S$1.6 billion) and €1.5 billion over the past six years by selling Maltese citizenship to those who would have it.
While the 500,000-resident island may not be the most attractive place to spend the rest of your life, bearing a Maltese passport might be worth it. Maltese citizens enjoy the numerous advantages of belonging to the European Union like visa-free travel in the Schengen Area, freedom of movement, and permission to work in any of the 27 member states of the EU.
