'Ukranian politicians given Austrian passports' - Green MEP

Austrian Times has reported that Ukraine's last Prime Minister, the current intermediary Prime Minister and the man likely to be the next Prime Minister have all allegedly been secretly given Austrian passports.

"The naming of Serhiy Arbuzov, Ukraine's interim Prime Minister following the resignation of Mykola Azarov, as well as Azarov himself and Andriy Klyuyev, expected to be named as the next Prime Minister, are the latest names to be revealed in a long list of wealthy foreigners looking to find a refuge where they will not face extradition back home," Austrian Times said.

The three were named as allegedly having Austrian passports by German Green MEP Rebecca Harms at their weekly European Parliament press briefing.

The paper explained that in Austria, people who invest in property or business are also eligible to receive passports: "The investments are typically made at the regional level and then the local government fast tracks the application."

"There is also the chance for anyone who comes into Austria with a significant amount of money of getting a residence permit, which can then later be changed to citizenship under the 'Privatierslösung'. The applicants do not need to have any skills, but they need to have a provable income of more than €3,500 a month. That means that this money needs to be paid into a local bank or through the purchase of property," it added.

And with Austria refusing to extradite its citizens to Russia and it's satellite states like the Ukraine and Kazakhstan, it explains why there has been a flood of applications from the region to gain Austrian citizenship.

Austria Times also cites the passport given to Kazakh Rakhat Aliyev as an example: "Another example of a wealthy passport holder came when a residency permit was granted to Kazakhstan’s multi-millionaire ambassador to Austria and OSCE representative Rakhat Aliyev, despite the fact that the government quota for applicants had already been reached for the year. 

It was rushed through when it was revealed his diplomatic immunity had been lifted, and that he was under an active criminal investigation in his homeland. The request for the passport had been handed out by the council leader in the Austrian district of Horn, who later said he had only done it because the Interior Ministry had ordered him to do so. At the time Aliyev reportedly had over 100 million euros stashed in Austrian banks."