European Union wants to end golden passport schemes, targets Russians

European Commission recommends taking away residence permits to Russian or Belarusian citizens supporting the war

The European Commission recommended on Monday that European Union nations end golden passport schemes that allow wealthy people to buy their way into the bloc's citizenship, and urged them to assess whether Russian oligarchs linked to the Kremlin or who support the war in Ukraine should be stripped of citizenship rights previously granted.

The European Commission launched infringement procedures against Cyprus and Malta in 2020 about their golden passports schemes, and the Russian war in Ukraine has put an increased focused on the topic.

The Commission warned that some Russian or Belarusian citizens who are among the 877 individuals targeted by asset freezes and travel bans imposed since 2014, or who support the Russian invasion of its neighbour, might have acquired EU citizenship or had access to the Schengen area via these schemes.

The EU's executive arm said the countries should now consider whether they should withdraw golden passports issued to such individuals.

In addition, it recommended immediately taking away residence permits that have been granted under an investor scheme to Russian or Belarusian citizens supporting the war or subject to sanctions.

Malta and Bulgaria currently have citizenship by investment plans in operation, while Cyprus which scrapped its own programme in November 2020 is only processing applications submitted before that date.

Bulgarian lawmakers recently backed a decision to end its golden passport programme.