Golden passport schemes for wealthy foreign investors violate European Union law, the bloc's highest court ruled after Brussels challenged Malta's program.

"The acquisition of Union citizenship cannot be the result of a commercial transaction," the EU Court said, ruling that Malta had violated EU law.

In 2022, Brussels brought a case against Malta before the highest court in connection with a program that allows non-Europeans to effectively buy Maltese citizenship — and therefore EU citizenship — through certain payments or investments.

The decision is binding and Malta must comply with it or risk heavy fines, AFP reported.

"A Member State cannot grant its nationality – and even European citizenship – in exchange for a pre-determined payment or investment, as this is essentially equivalent to making the acquisition of nationality a mere commercial transaction," the court emphasized.

Although the court stressed that each member state has the right to decide on citizenship, this freedom must be "exercised in accordance with EU law."

The Maltese scheme "violates the principle of loyal cooperation and undermines mutual trust between member states regarding the granting of citizenship," the court added.

Wealthy Russians and Chinese have used the scheme to obtain EU citizenship from Malta.

"Similar schemes existed in Cyprus and Bulgaria, but these countries later abandoned them," AFP writes.

Malta suspended Russian and Belarusian applications for "golden passports" after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when Europe took strict measures against individuals linked to the Kremlin. | BGNES