Most applicants do not have genuine links with the country, the commission argues.īy way of response, Malta has in effect told Brussels to get lost. As the commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, put it, “European values are not for sale.” She worries that such schemes are attractive to high-risk individuals seeking entry to the EU, or could be exploited by some for tax evasion or money laundering. The EU commission has clashed repeatedly with Malta over the issue of golden passports. Ursula von der Leyen: ‘European values are not for sale.’ Photograph: Reuters The foundation managed to re-establish contact with the whistleblower following Caruana Galizia's death. The information was obtained by the foundation from a whistleblower who first approached Caruana Galizia several years ago. In the years before her death, Caruana Galizia was fiercely critical, publishing multiple revelations about the scheme on her blog. Henley & Partners, which had previously helped to launch a similar programme in the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis, helped to design the Maltese scheme.
In 2013 the Maltese government announced plans to sell passports to wealthy individuals from outside the country. The murder of a journalist in an EU member state precipitated international outrage, and commitments from fellow journalists that they would continue to report on the issues Caruana Galizia had pursued before she died. The foundation, which was supported on this project by the Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) fund, is named after a Maltese investigative journalist killed by a car bomb in 2017. The leak was obtained by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, a non-profit organisation, and shared with media partners including the Guardian. The leaked files illustrate how many Maltese investor citizens had little or no significant links to the island where they were naturalised as citizens. Investor citizenship, also known as the "golden passports" trade, is legal but highly controversial. The Henley & Partners data leak consists of files from a firm specialising in helping wealthy clients to buy visas or passports.
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