Citizenship-for-Sale Scandal Heats Up as EU Threatens Suits
- EU warns Cyprus, Malta to end sale of ‘golden passports’
- Program offering EU citizenship for payment may violate EU law
Protestors demonstrate against corruption by a mock ballot box with Cyprus Passports reading "For Sale" in Nicosia on Oct. 14.
Photographer: Christina Assi/AFP via Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Malta and Cyprus were issued with a legal ultimatum as the European Union stepped up its crackdown on governments selling citizenship rights to live and work in the bloc.
The two nations may have violated EU law by offering so-called golden passports, or access to their country’s nationality and EU citizenship, in return for a fee, the bloc’s executive authority said on Tuesday.