Watch: Some Russians Who Buy Maltese Citizenship Are ‘Anti-Putin’, Foreign Affairs Minister States
Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo has appealed for caution over calls to suspend Malta’s passport scheme for Russian nationals, arguing that some Russians apply for Maltese citizenship to run away from the Kremlin.
“There are some Russian businessmen who leave Russia because they are anti-Putin and I can say that Russian authorities would be very interested to find out who they are and to identify them,” Bartolo said during an interview on Lovin Malta.
“It’s important not to brand them as corrupt or as being part of Vladimir Putin’s circle; they’re not involved in corruption.”
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola today urged Malta and other EU member states to stop selling passports to Russia nationals.
“We can no longer sell passports to Putin’s friends allowing them to circumvent our security,” she warned.
However, Bartolo said that none of the 31 Russian oligarchs who the EU has sanctioned so far have made use of Malta’s citizenship scheme, although two had applied and were rejected thanks to the scheme’s “very strong due diligence”.
Asked whether the ‘anti-Putin’ businessmen are emboldening the Russian president by fleeing the country instead of resisting him at home, Bartolo said one must put themselves in their shoes.
“That’s a personal decision which I can’t answer for. You and I have the luxury of deciding on this but if we lived in a tough system, we would have to decide what to do.”
“My point is we will definitely not harbour anyone or defend anyone. We are taking part fully in the EU process, we are sharing our data very transparently and we won’t let our system be abused.”
Amidst global calls for Russia to be isolated from the world and turned into a ‘pariah state’, Bartolo again appealed for caution.
“We must be very careful. The Russians aren’t Putin and demonising the whole of Russia and including all Russians in the category as though they are in Putin’s circle and responsible for what is going on would not only be a political mistake but a factual error too,” he said.
Evarist Bartolo in a meeting with members of the Ukrainian community in Malta today
The minister said he can see this on the ground in Malta, with members of the Ukrainian community telling him that most Russians on the island have offered them their support and compassion.
However, he argued there is also resistance against Putin’s war in Russia, with relatives of people close to the Kremlin taking to the streets in protest and prominent businessmen denouncing the war as “unacceptable”.
“It’s important to take very strong measures to show Putin that this is unacceptable… perhaps one of the things we should learn is that this is happening because what happened in Crimea wasn’t opposed and resisted enough. Perhaps Putin thought he could get away with Ukraine as he did with Crimea.”
“It’s important to take all the necessary sanctions and we’re going along and participating but we’ve been saying, even in the EU, to be careful because there is a civil society in Russia which we need to keep in mind.”
“At some point this tragedy will stop and we’ll have to re-engage with Russia so hit the people who are responsible but be careful not to turn those who are against Putin against you.”
Cover photo: Left: Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo, Right: Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: Kremlin’s Twitter account)
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