In 2022, the European Commission took legal steps against Malta in connection with the program in which foreigners could obtain Malta – and thus the EU – a passport in exchange for a one -time investment in the amount of at least 600,000. euro [2 mln 564 tys. zł] And living in Malta.
The Court of Justice of the European Union stated on Tuesday that this program is nothing but “commercialization” of citizenship, violates the principle of “good faith” and “mutual trust” between EU Member States and “violates EU law”.
Although Malta suspended a program for Russian and Belarusian citizens after the invasion of Ukraine, according to media reports Before entering into force, the program's beneficiaries were sanctioned Russian businessmen.
Malta Government: We respect the court's decision
According to local media, the Malta government declared that it would comply with Tuesday's ruling and would update its provisions accordingly. “As always, the Malta government respects court decisions,” said the government in a communiqué. “At the moment, the legal effects of this judgment are analyzed in detail, and then adapt the regulatory framework to citizenship to the rules set out in the judgment.”
The Maltese government added that this would not affect people who had previously used the program, and informed that the program brought hundreds of millions of euros.
“European citizenship is not for sale”
A spokesman for the commission accepted the decision. “European citizenship is not for sale,” a spokesman said on Tuesday. – We expect Malta to follow this decision and implement it accordingly.
The spokesman also called for all similar programs in the Union. Cyprus and Bulgaria suspended their “Golden Passports” programs, and Nicosia withdrew some of the passports she published, mainly to the Russians.
The court's decision was also adopted with satisfaction by non -governmental organizations. – Today's judgment confirms that Member States cannot treat EU citizenship as a goods and conduct reckless programs of “Golden Passports” – said in a statement the General Director of Transarency International Maira Martini.
Former Prime Minister Malta Joseph Muscat, who introduced the program in 2014, called the Tuesday decision politically motivated and accused the chairwoman of the European Parliament Roberta Metlesola of “acting against our country” in the Facebook post. Muscat is currently chased in Malta for alleged corruption.
