The German headlines are all about Malta selling “EU citizenship” and access to the rest of the European Union
Published:
November 13, 2013 at 8:50pm
Can any German speaker help out with translating what is being said on the De Zeit comments board, or giving us the gist of the discussion that’s taking place?
All links are below.
Frankfurter Allgemeine: ‘Malta sells EU citizenship for Eur650,000’
Berliner Zeitung
Die Zeit
T Online
Der Spiegel’s international edition
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http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2013-11/eu-staatsbuergerschaft-malta
http://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article121835954/Malta-bietet-Staatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650-000-Euro.html
http://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/ausland/eu/id_66485902/malta-verkauft-eu-staatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650-000-euro.html
http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/politik/europaeer-fuer-650-000-euro-malta-verkauft-eu-staatsbuergerschaft,10808018,25018464.html
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/europaeische-union-malta-verkauft-eu-staatsbuergerschaft-fuer-650-000-euro-12662101.html
The comments are basically echoing the points made by you and the few sensible people still left in Malta, viz. that the sale of citizenships to oligarchs has never been received joyously by any nation (they’ve never been to Malta then) and is the sort of thing that is only done by corrupt, bankrupt regimes.
Then they make an interesting point which will resonate with many Germans. Given its population, Malta has a giant voting power in the EU, about eleven times as much as Germany with its 80 million citizens. So they are whimsically suggestion that Germany should sell passports at a discount, for one eleventh of 650,000 Euros.
Who said the Germans didn’t have a sense of humour?
The comments are mostly negative and/or sarcastic. Here are a few quotes:
9. “An interesting form of prostitution…It doesn’t make a difference what kind of person calls him/herself a Maltese citizen, as long as they pay.”
10. A Maltese citizen’s vote counts 11 times as much as a German citizen’s (based on population count). Thus, a German passport would cost about 60,000 Euros.
12. Here’s Erdogan’s chance for Turkey to become part of the EU for 41.1 billion Euros…
Love this one:
15. On your arrival by boat, please wave your money about so as to avoid any misunderstandings.
19. We donate our [German] pass to all migrants, at least Malta makes money out of it.
25. Do you really think anybody seeks Maltese citizenship? It is about EU access and the advantages it brings with it….Good to know criminals will be filtered out…however, how can Malta prove beyond doubt that an individual is not a criminal in his/her own country?
27. One country takes the money and the other countries suffer the consequences.
32. Malta does business at the expense of other EU states.
36. The EU should prohibit this. Any mafia boss can afford this.
38. (In reply to a comment about Malta’s dense population). Malta’s overpopulation problem is irrelevant. None of the new Maltese would live there. This is all about freedom of movement in the EU.
It seems the foreign press give greater prominence than The Times of Malta.
The comments are pretty inane, generally – a couple pointed out that Austria sold Austrian passports to ‘Russian Oligarchs’ (I think it was Kazakh ex-buddies of the president, who eventually settled in Malta, actually).
Some noted that it’s an open invitation to criminals.
Some said various EU countries do it, including Germany (but they were probably thinking about residence, not citizenship).
What I found vaguely interesting is that one person pointed out that Malta has about 10 times as many MEPs as Germany has, per capita, so it’s a real bargain, either that or a German passport is only worth 60K in comparison.
Do you agree with selling Malta’s citizenship?
5 quick questions: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8BFJVY9
Please complete and circulate.
Responses are anonymous.
The MEP point is an interesting one. You’ve already raised the issue of these newcomers being able to vote (and that this could influence Maltese politics but that would depend on the numbers and the district the newcomers are registered in).
But what about European affairs?
Shovelling money into the PL’s coffers meant that they ended up in power. This gives states like China a certain amount of control over an EU state … and therefore its vote in the European Parliament. Has anyone noticed if the PL MEPs have started to vote/talk in favour of rules/policies that would favour a country like China?
Holy smokes batman! Well Cyrus is actually beginning to look slightly Asian: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Engerer