[ad_1]
The Cypriot authorities demanded to investigate the leak of documents that sold “golden passports” to Radio Al Jazeera – Photo: Al Jazeera
We have asked the legal department of the European Judicial Commission to analyze whether with the current legal framework we can initiate the investigation to consider a violation of the law or make a proposal. Legal or not “- Didier Reynders, judicial commissioner of the European Union (EU), told Radio Al Jazeera on August 27, saying that there should be changes across Europe regarding the first programs. Immigration (GPA).
“The Cyprus judicial system should analyze the situation and, if possible, the Cypriot authorities should revoke their citizenship.
Didier reynders
Cyprus spoke
Mr. Reynders also wants these programs to end completely. The EU judicial official’s opinion comes after the Al Jazeera Radio investigation team published The Cyprus Papers containing leaked documents showing that Cyprus had sold passports to many people as criminals. , fugitives and those in high risk groups.
The set of documents with almost 1,500 passport applications approved with 2,400 names involved revealed that the Cypriot government did not take the intensive evaluation steps with dozens of cases, facilitating the The subjects are criminals and those subject to international sanctions can still acquire the citizenship in an EU member state. According to Al Jazeera, of the nearly 1,500 people applying for citizenship in Cyprus, at least 30 are pending prosecution or conviction and 40 have political influence.
The EU official also added that Cyprus is largely responsible for this problem and that this is not the first time the EU has received scandals related to the Cyprus resettlement program.
However, the Government of Cyprus does not believe that its resettlement program is wrong. The country accused Radio Al Jazeera’s investigative series of “propaganda, not press.”
Cyprus Interior Minister Nicos Nouris stated on August 26 that “all the people questioned when applying for citizenship have met the standards and have no criminal record in the country.” the country of origin and their countries of residence. “Instead of having to investigate these cases as recommended by the EU judicial commissioner, Nicos Nouris stated that Cyprus is investigating the cause of the leakage of government documents and of reaching the hands of Radio Al Jazeera.
System error?
Transparency International (TI), a global anti-corruption NGO, said that without waiting for a series of investigations by Al Jazeera, for many years some organizations under the EU government also wanted to eliminate Resettlement programs are based on unacceptable risks of this program for the entire sector.
Welcoming the EU judicial official’s proposal, TI said that Al Jazeera’s series of investigations showed that Cyprus’s “golden passport” program was still a loophole for criminals of corruption, money laundering in many countries. , despite the fact that the island nation occasionally introduced reforms in response to public opinion.
Ms Laure Brillaud, IT’s Senior Policy Specialist, recalled that the government of Cyprus previously admitted errors in the resettlement program, pledged to bridge loopholes and confiscated citizenship from those who had “improperly granted”. . But according to Laure Brillaud, documents released by Al Jazeera Radio show that the problem is not really just a limited bug.
“Cyprus records show that this is not just a few oddities and not occasional misjudgments. This is a systematic problem. The only way to address it is Cyprus. The program must stop, confiscate questionable passports and initiate an investigation to force obvious cases of policy abuse “- Ms. Laure Brillaud said.
TI even argued that the latest series of investigations by Radio Al Jazeera showed that the EU is currently not protected from the fortuitous sale of citizenship and settlement rights by certain countries to criminal offenses and corruption. “At this point, it is important that the (EU) committee continues to meet its commitments. We have already heard the commission say that it will not tolerate abuse of these programs, but has not yet taken action.” definitive, “said Ms Laure Brillaud.
TI urged the EU authorities not to waste time and immediately begin the process of reviewing violations with Cyprus and the countries that sell EU citizenship for violating the principle of honest cooperation between members. “What we need to see in the EU is the legal proposal to fundamentally reform these programs, or a roadmap to end the risky ‘golden passport’ programs, said Laure Brillaud, see with Radio Al Jazeera.
25 billion euros The amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) poured into EU countries through the “golden passport” program until 10-2018.
6,000 new citizens In the period 2000-2010, the EU added more than 6,000 new citizens and around 100,000 new permanent residents, most of whom were persons of suspicious origin.
4.8 billion euros Cyprus made 4.8 billion euros selling more than 3,000 passports to controversial figures from Ukraine, Russia and Syria.
(Nguồn: Transparency International, Global Witness)
