Opposition Leader Bernard Grech has called for Malta to immediately stop selling citizenship to Russian nationals as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine following the invasion.

Interviewed on NET TV this evening, Grech cited unnamed reports that Russian nationals may have bought Maltese citizenship to “destabilise the country”.

“It’s worrying and we cannot verify 100% whether these reports are true or not because the government has concealed the names [of citizenship buyers],” Grech said. “Could this be one of the reasons they are hiding the names? We cannot trust people whose names we don’t know to keep purchasing citizenship.”

He warned that allowing Russians to continue purchasing citizenship risks imperilling “national security” and stopping them from doing so will send a message of solidarity with the people of Ukraine. 

“We’ll send a message that it’s unacceptable to invade a peaceful nation and to allow people with serious doubts over their head to enter Malta through this scheme.”

Malta publishes the names of people who purchase citizenship within the annual list of all newly naturalised Maltese citizens, without distinguishing them from the rest.

Grech claimed that if citizenship buyers don’t want to reveal their names, it’s a sign that they aren’t proud of Malta.

“Therefore I don’t want you to be Maltese and I don’t want your money, which could be dirty and originate from terrorism or the sale of arms… we will get clean money instead,” he said.

Malta won’t impose a blanket ban on Russian nationals from buying Maltese citizenship as a snap reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Questioned by Lovin Malta about this issue yesterday, Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship Alex Muscat said that while the government is following developments in Ukraine “very closely”, the citizenship scheme is already extremely rigorous.

However, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has pressured Malta and other EU countries to put an end to sale-of-citizenship schemes.

“The Kremlin has long thought it could buy its way into Europe,” she said.

It is time to close any loopholes, end the dangerous phenomenon of golden passports that provide a backdoor to European citizenship and ensure that Russian money does not become as critical as Russian gas. At the end of the day, this is how we achieve our strategic autonomy.”