In the Austrian press: “It is usual to have people who are for or against the EU, but people who see the EU as a product for sale is something totally new.”
Published:
November 15, 2013 at 10:11am
The Austrian newspaper Die Furche, in its Kopf an Kopf (Head to Head) column yesterday, Malta’s prime minister is described as follows:
It is usual in Europe to have people who are for or against the EU, or those who have no opinion about the matter. But people who see Europe as a product for sale is totally new.
The government of Malta under Joseph Muscat is in financial straits and wants to sell EU citizenship to rich Russians. A passport costs 650,000 euros. He expects to bring in 30 million euros by doing this.
The column is illustrated with a photo a tight-lipped Muscat with a arrow showing downwards, meaning that this is a negative prime minister.
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http://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2013/11/15/malta-is-for-sale/
I found the following article: http://derstandard.at/1381372156263/VP-Abgeordneter-Malta-verletzt-Schengenvertrag and used Google Translate (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fderstandard.at%2F1381372156263%2FVP-Abgeordneter-Malta-verletzt-Schengenvertrag).
Interesting if it is true.
As Labour itself would put it, “jekk ma taqbilx mal-bejgh tal-passaporti, aghfas like”
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Referendum-kontra-l-bejgh-ta-Cittadinanza-Maltija/671877069509316?ref=stream
That can’t be. Everyone know it’s the Opposition and its leader who are negative. How wrong those Austrians got it.
Something strange has happened to the poll on the Times of Malta today. I think the elves are hard at work. Up Till 9 ish this morning the poll was giving a 9 % lead to the no to the sale of citizenship. Suddenly every time I refreshed the page the yes vote started increasing by the second until it now reached a lead of 5% all in a matter of a couple of hours. I stayed on the page refreshing every 5 minutes and the rapidity by with the yes increased was too fast to be true.
Robert Musumeci is on a high on Facebook, claiming that all publicity is good publicity…
There you go. People are joining the dots.
It remember the day John Dalli resigned as EU commissioner. I happened to be travelling on business and was transiting at Vienna airport. While I was waiting I was treated to Dalli’s face cropping up every 5 minutes on electronic screens everywhere. Couldn’t be more embarrassed.
But it gets worse: the push-backs, the hunters, the antics at summit meetings on the immigration issue, now this.
Makes one wonder what’s coming next.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Economy-Minister-refuses-to-publish-legal-consultants-fees-20131114
Consultancy provided, amongst others, by a certain Lydia Abela.
Presumably logo design.
I refuse to believe that Sant really believes what he says. It goes beyond basic logic. EU will not interfere (till now) since it respects the sovereignty of every member state; however his claim that this scheme is an internal matter is erroneous.
It would be if the government was simply selling Maltese passports. But we all know it is not, the Labour government is selling EU passports and that is what makes them worth anything. And that is also why foreign media are reporting and discussing this.
Persons purchasing such passports will also be enjoying various rights and benefits in all EU member states. So no, it is definitely not an internal matter Dr. Sant.
And elves are out in force again on Times of Malta. They seem to use the internet at work only, probably paid for with our taxes and no doubt ensuring that they are not physically present in the office for one minute more than 8 hours.
Having moved to 54% against, the on-line survey is now showing 53% in favour, when in fact we know that only 26% are in favour of it as it stands.
And there I thought only the opposition was negative. Finally an article that describes the Prime Minister for what he really is.
Glad to see that this is a government of continuity – from where it left off in the 80s:
“They attributed parts of the criticism levelled by the international media to the Opposition campaign against the programme saying the Opposition was tarnishing Malta’s reputation abroad.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131115/local/citizenship-programme.494819
My name is Joseph Muscat and I am your Prime Minister
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/537339_552267334848766_580617187_n.jpg
http://www.maltarightnow.com/?module=news&at=%27%27Din+l%2Diskema+tmur+kontra+l%2Dprin%26%23267%3Bipji+tal%2DUE%27%27+%2D+il%2DKap+tad%2DDelegazzjoni+Olandi%26%23380%3Ba+fil%2DPE&t=a&aid=99852193&cid=50
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-11-15/news/no-nation-can-afford-to-sell-citizenship-former-us-ambassador-3200548864/
In reality, while it was the Prime Minister that spearheaded this initiative and, it seems, so far grossly miscalculated its impact, it is in fact every single member of the government side, even those who had qualms about voting for the bill but did not, that bear the responsibility for the damage they have done to our once proud country.
Let they be named and remembered in history as the people who sold Malta’s citizenship for a handful of silver.
http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/MT Yours is currently the 6th most popular Maltese site.
In recent weeks I have noticed that Air Malta is carrying a few copies of L-Orizzont.
This happened on my last 3 or 4 flights. I hadn’t seen a Maltese language paper on Air Malta for a long time. So is this a new policy to carry L-Orizzont? Is it Air Malta’s way of throwing some cash Labour’s way? Needless to say I didn’t see any copies of Nazzjon.
The material in the link below is from a few weeks back, but it is all the more relevant now in the light of the confirmation by the international media of the true susbtance of Joseph Muscat’s “Individual Investor Program” scheme.
It is an article by Alfred Mifsud in The Malta Independent, in which Mifsud endorses Muscat’s scheme. So much for his sense of judgement.
It must be highlighted that Mifsud is likely to become a Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Malta. Does that mean that he will also be an officer of the European Central Bank?
http://www.independent.com.mt/mobile/2013-11-03/opinions/selling-the-brand-3074981892/
http://www.chogm2013.lk/files/2613/8452/5871/The_Commonwealth_Heads_of_Government_Meeting_CHOGM_2013_Opening_Ceremony_slider02.jpg
Die Furche really hit the nail on the head here. The blatant citizenship for sale programme is an outright abuse of sovereign rights made so much worse by the fact that Malta is cashing in on well beyond its own citizenship.
The question is: is EU citizenship in Malta’s power to bequeath? As far as I know ‘nemo dat quod non habet’ – one cannot give good title to what one does not own.
This scheme, concocted by a wily administration paying homage to the letter but certainly not the spirit of the law, thereby taking advantage of a loophole, is surely not going to stop here but will be placed firmly and urgently on the EU agenda where it squarely belongs.
[Daphne – Hardly wily. A truly wily person would have had the intelligence to foresee the fall-out. After all, most of us did here, and we could hardly be classed as wily, but merely informed and with a bit of insight and foresight. But these are people who campaigned against EU membership, remember, because they thought it would be bad for Malta.]