[WATCH] Robert Abela defends golden passport scheme ahead of European Parliament vote

Prime Minister Robert Abela has defended Malta’s golden passport scheme ahead of a vote in the European Parliament calling for it to be scrapped by 2025.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting with the General Workers' Union, Abela said the government has strengthened its due diligence and that every applicant is scrutinised to the highest level.

Abela argued that the scheme was “robust.” He added that the money from this scheme had been used to fund a plethora of social and cultural projects.

“Money from the scheme was used to fund medicine, help with the relief effort during the pandemic, to finance Puttinu cares... these were important investments for the public and this is why I continue to defend the scheme, but if there are any reservations, we will try and resolve them so we can move forward,” Abela said.

When asked whether it was time to scrap the scheme given the problems it has caused Malta at a European level, Abela said there was open dialogue on the subject and that when it was not possible to do due diligence, such as in the case of Russia, the scheme was closed to that group.

MEPs will vote this afternoon on a report by Dutch MEP Sophie In’t Veld (Renew) that calls for the stoppage of all citizenship-by-investment schemes by 2025 through a gradual phasing-out.

The legislative report by Int’t Veld means that the European Commission must give serious reasons to ignore a request to use its power of initiative and draw up a law that calls upon member states to stop golden passport schemes.

Nationalist leader Bernard Grech said that his party sees the validity of the income from the golden passport scheme but insisted the names of people who acquire citizenship through it should be made public. On EU efforts to scrap such schemes, Grech said it was still too early to comment since discussions were ongoing but implied the PN will not ditch it.

"One has to await the verdict. Our position on the citizenship by investment scheme is that we see the validity of the income from it, but there should be a genuine link with Malta, and the names should be public,” Grech said.

The PN leader said it was great Malta had a seat at the table as members of the European Union to discuss the issue.

“We will keep insisting that the scheme is well managed and that no Russian citizens infiltrate Malta for ulterior motives,” Grech said.