As of Monday, the European Commission had recommended that EU countries end the golden passport schemes that allow wealthy people to buy their way into the bloc’s citizenship, and urged them to examine whether Russians who support the conflict in Ukraine should be stripped of their citizenship rights.

As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the European Commission’s subsequent infringement processes against Cyprus and Malta, the issue of golden passports is once again receiving attention.

Since 2014, the EU has enforced asset freezes and travel bans on 877 Russians and Belarusians, and the Commission has cautioned that some of these persons may have obtained EU citizenship or access to the Schengen region via these schemes.

As a result of the EU’s executive arm’s recommendation, governments should now consider withdrawing golden passports awarded to such persons. As a result, it was proposed that Russian and Belarusian nationals who support the conflict or are subject to sanctions have their residency permits revoked immediately.

As of right now, citizenship by investment schemes are only being implemented in Malta and Bulgaria; Cyprus, on the other hand, is only processing applications received before to November 2020. Parliamentarians in Bulgaria recently approved a move to discontinue the country’s golden passport system.
In an undercover TV programme, Cyprus’ parliamentary speaker and a key politician claimed they could sidestep restrictions to provide a passport to a bogus Chinese businessman who had been convicted of fraud in their home country. Cyprus stopped the program.

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