Valletta, the capital of MaltaMOSCOW, Mar 2 Malta suspends the issuance of so-called «golden passports» for investors from Russia and Belarus, according to the local edition of the Times of Malta. The government of the island nation announced the impossibility of effective verification of documents under the program in connection with «recent events». According to the publication, we are talking about a special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. Community Affairs and the Maltese Agency for Residents have suspended, until further notice, the consideration of applications for the aforementioned statuses (citizenship and residence permit) from citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus,» the government's communiqué quotes the publication. The European Commission, back in January 2019, announced the risks of abuse when foreigners receive residence permits and European passports within the framework of national programs, in particular Bulgaria, Malta and Cyprus. At that time, these states were asked to increase the transparency of these schemes and tighten security checks.
