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Dutch MEP says golden passport is ‘anti-social’
Dennis de Jong says member states should protest Malta’s sale of citizenship, and not force European Commission to regulate citizenship rules
14 January 2014, 12:00am
Matthew Vella
Matthew Vella
2 min read
Dutch socialist MEP Dennis de Jong
A Dutch socialist MEP, Dennis de Jong, has said that EU member states should protest Malta's sale of citizenship instead of having the European Commission regulate who can become a naturalised citizen of member states.
Malta's controversial citizenship sale, which will sell passports for €650,000 to non-EU nationals, will be discussed in the European Parliament tomorrow Wednesday.
While De Jong is a member of the United Green Left, the head of the Labour Party's European family, Hannes Swoboda, has said the citizenship sale "undermines European values".
De Jong, who disagrees with the citizenship sale, has said that member states should threaten to stop the admission of Malta's IIP (Individual Investor Programme) citizens, rather than grant Brussels the competence of who should be an EU citizen.
"There should be a debate on the recognition of passports," de Jong suggested in his blog, saying that not everyone who buys a passport may be eligible to enter the Netherlands.
Under Malta's IIP rules, applicants with criminal backgrounds or proceedings pending against them, are ineligible to purchase a Maltese passport, which also includes the acquisition of a €350,000 property and €150,000 in government stocks.
But De Jong said that Malta was hoping to raise €1 billion from a passport sale that he described as being "anti-social".
"People across the Mediterranean seek asylum in Malta as it's the first land they encounter in their crossing, but rich criminals are more than welcome. Sheer class (in)justice. Incidentally, more and more member states are promoting similar schemes and the Netherlands even allows a millionaire to get a residence permit if you invest at least €1.25 million in the Dutch business community."
On his part, De Jong hinted at what the radical left MEPs' position on the forthcoming resolution on Malta's passport sale is:
"Obviously, this is not a good thing: everyone who has the cash and is also some criminal will be able to settle in the EU. The question is whether we should aid the Maltese system, by allowing free movement for these new citizens."
The European Parliament's resolution, whatever the outcome, has no binding effect on Malta, which retains the right to determine its own naturalisation rules.
"The EU is not a federal state and it's the member states who decide who gets naturalised and under what conditions," de Jong said.
Matthew Vella, a freelance journalist at MaltaToday, was formerly executive editor at Malt...
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he EU is not a federal state and it's the member states who decide who gets naturalised and under what conditions," de Jong said.
This is the crux of the issue. The EU has no right to usurp the fundamental right of sovereignty of which granting citizenship is one of the most fundamental pillars. It seems that now the socialist group and the UK conservatives are accepting this principle. By all means let the EU parliament be informed and be allowed to discuss and work with national governments towards agreed collaborative convergence of oricedures for granting naturalisation. This discussion must not stop with bullying tiny Malta but must encompass all aspects of the problem and all the creative schemes in the national interest resorted to by the majority of EU countries when granting hundreds of thousands of naturalisation papers to foreign citizens.
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Dear Dr. Muscat PM, YOU ARE THERE TO Govern and noy listen to nobodies ... who the hell is Mr De Jong, I bet that if you go to Holland NO-BODY has ever heard of him, when you consider the Dutch turnout in European Parliamentary elections, I know as I happen to have relations there....and the Maltese press speak of these members as if they are a political entities ...THESE ARE NOBODY, so Malta today please start quoting REAL people
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Jien ghalija dan kollu fuss ghal xejn ghax ic-citadinanza ila tinata b"xejn, allura mhux ahjar li dawn ihallsu biex jehdugha. Dawn zgur ha jkunu nies sta bene. Jew Simon.Buzutil and co tant kemm qed jibzghu li ha tkun successs li qed ghajmlu minn kollox biex jopponuha. MA nafx jien.
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Is it better to have multi-millionaires as maltese citizens than Arabs who marry only to get a free maltese passport without any contribution and evade tax while working in the construction area as plasterers etc.??????????????????
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What is truly monstrous, evil and anti-social are the abortion laws (laws condoning the brutal murder of unborn babies) practised by your country and the remaining members of the European Union with the proud exception of Malta
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Did this De jong get a bj or a backdoor from one of two particular Maltese MEPs?
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Has this piece of shot forgotten that Holland colonised a good part of Asia wasn't that "anti-social" go puck yourself you doipe head.
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When Holland accepts to delegate the decisions on who becomes a Dutch citizen to Malta, we will take notice of what Dutch MEPs have to say about who becomes a Maltese citizen.
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Dennis de Jong what we do is NONE OF YOUR BUSNESS. Stick to your own country's problems and stop interfering in OUR INTERNAL AFFAIRS. As for whom we allow to stay in Malta it is for us to decide neither you nor the EU de Jong. This is another futile attempt by Simon to undermine the Labour Government with blatant lies which are repeated by this MEP as can easily be seen in what he said. Get used to being in the Opposition Simon. You may not last that long because eve PN supporters are fed up with you and would probably kick you out much quicker than you think.
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Let them debate - let them vote. That is what they are paid for , and so very generously. The European Parliament is becoming another United Nations Security Council and Un General Assembly. Debates there are endless, resolutions piled mountain high are flouted and ignored by the coun tries they are addressed to. In the evening everything is forgotten over scores of diplomatic social gatherings indulging in alchohol, protocol and Geritol. In the morning everything is forgotten and we pass to the next item on the Agenda.
Sovereignty of States is sacred and untouchable. We will do what is in the best interest of our country just like a European Union member States from Eastern Europe did when it accewpted the installation of American inter-continental ballistic missiles despite the unhappiness expressed by some European colleagues. I repeat, the EU is not a sovereign state. It is a grouping of sovereign states. Hence EU citizenship is only a nomenclature of convenience. EU citizenship does not exist. Each member states has its own legal national travel document called "passport".
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Mind your own business !!!
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It was all good when Malta was cohersed to accept all illegal immigrants that land on our shores.Yet,most of the northern countries cared less about Malta's situation.But now,they are concerned because Malta stands to make a lot of money from this scheme.It all seems to be a case of sour grapes.
To whom we grant citizenship is Malta's prerogative and not the EU's.
Meanwhile,Romania is granting citizenship to Moldovan nationals for free and that will mean that all these Moldovans with Romanian citizenship will be free to move across the EU.I am curious to see what the European Parliament's reaction will be to all this and more interestingly....Metsola's and Casa's reaction to this decision !!!
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Dutchmen's active part in apartheid in South Africa were 'social'? Or its empire in the South East Asia were social? If the Dutch are to be believed they are social,they should first accept some of our illegal immigrants, or give the capital and proceeds that they stole from 'their' colonies way back! Actions speak louder than words!
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When this Dutch MEP referred to " rich criminals " as being able to get Maltese citiznship, he was obviously repeating what he has been fed by PN's MEPs, who have been very active fomenting anti-IIP propaganda in Brussels !
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What these "FOREIGN" MEPs say is their own affair. But first they should learn NOT TO MEDDLE IN THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS of another EU member-state, since the granting of citizenship is one of the few soverign rights still enjoyed by each member-state !
What is important is that except for the PN NO OTHER MCESD MEMBER HAS COME OUT AGAINST THE IIP !
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PUPPET ON A STRING.!!!! he is only repeating what his cohorts in Malta have fed him. I bet he will not be re-elected in May!!
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Dawn is-sinjuri ma jaqblux mas-sistema Maltija tal-IIP u l-pajjizi l-ohra kwazi kollha ghandhom xi forma ta' "investment for residence permits". Insomma dak li tistenna minn dawn il-professuri tal-EU - hawwadni ha nifhmek. U jekk il-pajjiz ta' de Jong (li jidher li huwa very social friendly) jixtieq jiehu qabda immigranti illegali minn Malta u jaghtihom ic-cittadinanza Olandiza he is most welcome.
