President makes his own pitch for citizenship sale

President of Malta George Abela has defended his government's decision to make citizenships for Malta available for sale to non-EU citizens, saying it represents an investment for his country.

According to Xinhua press agency and APA, Abela made the comments at a press conference in Hofburg in Vienna, Austria, yesterday Tuesday where he was joined by Austrian President Heinz Fischer.

Despite the controversy surrounding the issue, including a condemnation from the European Parliament and Maltese opposition parties, Abela was reported saying that Malta had not been expressly mentioned in the European Parliament resolution and that all those granted citizenships were first subject to compliance with EU values.

Maltese government officials are expected to discuss the Individual Investor Programme with the Euroepan Commission in the coming days.

Also discussed between the two leaders was the issue of refugees, who mainly come into Malta from across the Mediterranean, while for Austria most are from Eastern Europe, Afghanistan and Chechnya.

Abela said Malta could not cope with the influx of refugees into his country alone, but added he sees signs of progress in European solidarity on the issue, while Fischer mentioned his country's relatively high intake of refugees compared to some Southern European nations.

In his speech during the state dinner hosted by Austrian President Heinz Fisher, Abela highlighted the "uninterrupted arrivals of hundreds of irregular migrants" risking their lives to reach Europe.

"Malta is calling its European partners to urgently come together and find tangible solutions that will help stop this haemorrhage of lives. I am pleased to note that following the European Union December Summit tangible action was proposed by the Commission to address this reality, however much more needs to be done if we don't want to experience a repetition of the October tragedies when hundreds of lives were lost at sea."