Having a fire sale. Everything must go.
Even citizenship.
According to the Telegraph, the EU is selling EU citizenship by the euro.
Tiny little Malta recently announced proposals to start selling citizenship rights for €650,000 a pop. Many countries in Europe, including Britain, have similar schemes, but this one breaks new ground. In all other cases, the applicant is obliged to reside in the country for a minimum number of years before being granted a passport, and in Britain’s case, he/she is also obliged to invest in a company.
For Malta, it’s simply a case of pay the fee and get the passport. Now Malta is I’m sure a nice enough place, and no doubt there are some in the world willing to pay this stonking great price to go and live there. But essentially what’s being sold is not the right to Maltese citizenship, but to EU residency. Once in possession of a Maltese passport, you can live and work anywhere in EU.
Of course what they’re REALLY selling is the right to receive the generous EU benefits. But since the reason Malta is selling citizenships is that the high-tax-high-government-benefits model is leading to unemployment and economic collapse all over the world, people buying EU citizenship should take care.
Caveat Emptor: the citizenship you buy might not be worth the money it’s printed on.
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