Maltese government, opposition talks on citizenship plan still no progress

Malta's top level talks on citizenship between Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and opposition leader Simon Busuttil ended with no breakthrough Saturday, but talks will continue on Monday. Although the two sides had agreed not to comment, Muscat revealed that the talks were near the end and the time for decisions was approaching, according to local media reports. The talks between the government and the opposition have been in progress for exactly a month. Busuttil said in late November that the opposition is willing to come to a consensus with the government on the citizenship program, but insisted that the PN had been against the sale of citizenship from the very beginning and wanted this to be transformed into an investment scheme. The European Parliament is due to discuss the scheme at a plenary meeting on Jan. 15. Malta's President George Abela signed the amended Citizenship Act on Nov. 15, through which investors with a minimum contribution of 650,000 euros (870,000 U.S. dollars) can be granted Maltese citizenship, provided they meet due diligence criteria and pass a criminal background check. Later that day, Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech announced that the government was to remove the secrecy clause from the Act. Malta gained independence from Britain in 1964, became a republic in 1974 and joined the European Union in 2004. Malta joined Europe's borderless area, known as Schengen, in 2007.