European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders says he will consider legal action to stop Cyprus from selling citizenship.
This comes after a week of reports from Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit.
The Cyprus Papers, obtained by Al Jazeera, show that convicted criminals and fugitives are using the Cypriot citizenship-by-investment scheme – or the “golden passports” – to buy their way into the European Union.
Al Jazeera’s Deborah Davies reports.
The video item below is a piece of English language content from Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera is a Qatari state-funded broadcaster based in Doha, Qatar, owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network.
Cyprus, officially called the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Republic of Cyprus is de facto partitioned into two main parts: the area under the effective control of the Republic, located in the south and west and comprising about 59% of the island’s area, and the north, administered by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, covering about 36% of the island’s area. Another nearly 4% of the island’s area is covered by a UN buffer zone.
The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, remain under the UK’s control according to the London and Zürich Agreements.
The Republic of Cyprus has been a member of the Commonwealth since 1961 and joined the European Union on 1 May 2004.
The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. Its members have a combined area of 4,233,255.3 km² and an estimated total population of about 447 million.
