Golden EU Passports for the Rich Get Legal Boost at Bloc’s Highest Court
- Court opinion says cash-for-passports program isn’t illegal
- EU top court adviser gives view on clash over Maltese program
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European Union law doesn’t stop Malta doling out EU citizenship to rich foreign investors, an adviser at the bloc’s top court said in a case that could set the bar for so-called golden visa programs across the region.
The tiny island nation’s cash-for-citizenship offer, which grants nationality to the wealthy, among them Russian oligarchs, celebrities and millionaire sports stars, was wrongly attacked by the EU’s executive arm, according to Anthony Collins, an advocate general at the EU’s Court of Justice.