From the online comments board

The great residency sham to obtain a Maltese passport

This ‘scheme’ was always a ‘transaction’. It takes major naivete to believe otherwise. And if you think that the EU did not know or suspect about the fake ‘general link’ and ‘residency’ requirement, then you definitely must be the greatest fool on earth. In days gone by, we the Maltese who have always aspired to be integral in Europe, be it for cultural, historical or social reasons, not to mention feeling a sense of protection from threats emanating from beyond Europe, actually ended up being a pawn in the globalist movement which runs ‘Europe’.

Europe is no longer the ‘Europe’ we imagined it to be. Instead of protection, we got boatloads of uninvited, unskilled millions. Instead of cultural integration, we got a watering down of what it is to be Maltese. Thousands on our island no longer speak our language and do not attempt or care to do so. Just go on a bus or restaurant and pose a simple question in Maltese. Instead of a historical rapprochement to Europe on an equal footing, we are told what to do like a colony.

And, like a colony, we have no control of who gets the passport because the passport we have is not Maltese. It is just an ID card which belongs to a globalist commercial entity where being ‘European’ is just a cursory visit to the Colosseum, the Brandenburg Gate or St Mark’s square, dead remnants of our forefathers who were, lived and felt truly European and nobody else. They really did not need a passport then to prove who they were. – Michel Bencini

When all is said and done, this is the crux of this “sham”: Malta reiterates that physical presence, in contrast with legal residence, is not a precondition to acquire nationality in Malta nor in any other EU member state, Cardona said.

Nobody commenting here (or anywhere) can render a verdict on this, one way or another. The EU has initiated infringement procedures against Malta and Cyprus regarding their passport schemes. If this goes to court, may “the best man win”.

Till that time comes, it’s merely irrelevant bla bla bla from everyone, myself included.

Dying to see how this ends up though, especially since, if I am not mistaken, the government announced an overhaul of the scheme last year, whereby individuals can no longer apply for citizenship without first being residents here for at least a year. – Alan Castillo

A scandal a day keeps the Mafia LP in power. – Giovann DeMartino

Once these passports were criminally and fraudulently acquired, our prime minister, a lawyer by profession, should be proud of advising himself to investigate and prosecute offenders. Then he should himself issue a direct order to withdraw those passports at no extra cost. We are in the meantime living under tension knowing that such criminal fraudsters would board one of those free flights to come and vote. Is the next election going to be deemed legal in view of these crimes? – Gaetano Pace

No EU member state should have the right to issue or sell passports to non-EU folks without the express agreement of all 27 members. How can it possibly be correct that any member state arbitrarily issues passports which then automatically grant right of entry to the other 26 member states? – Stephen John Avalyan Newton

Let’s keep it this way. More hundreds of millions of euros that the government can use to improve everyone’s standard of living. – Emmanuele Grech

In a way, the Maltese have become one of the richest people in the world. Close to 90 per cent own their houses, villas and luxurious residences in Malta and, in many instances, an additional holiday apartment in Gozo, in London and elsewhere. The monetary savings of the Maltese, deposited in Maltese and foreign banks is close to incalculable. Each Maltese family is in possession of at least two motor vehicles. The majority take one and sometimes two yearly holidays abroad which includes cruises of the Mediterranean in quite a few instances. Ever since 2013, we have been experiencing La Dolce Vita. Come join us and be happy. – Salvino Giusti

The sale of EU passports (lest one forget that the large majority of those defending it campaigned and voted against EU membership) is an act of institutional brigandry and a unilateral abuse of a shared right. – J.J. Micallef

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