EU seeks clarifications from Cyprus over citizenship scheme
The European Commission sent a letter to Cyprus on Friday seeking clarification of a government decision in November to revoke the Cypriot citizenship of 26 individuals who were granted it under the country’s investor scheme.
A Cyprus government spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
In the letter, seen by Reuters, Astola asked Nicosia whether it would investigate “possible misconduct” in these cases and how it intended to prevent people with high-risk profiles from getting passports in the future. Astola’s letter asked for a response by Jan. 6.
The Commission has also asked Malta to clarify how it intends to address Bank of Valletta’s shortcomings over its monitoring of foreign customers who applied to buy Maltese citizenship under a so-called “golden passport” scheme.
[Reuters]