A total 573 applications for residence in preparation for Maltese citizenship have been received by Malta with 56 of the applications coming from Russians or citizens of former Soviet countries, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said this evening.
Replying to parliamentary questions by Nationalist MP Claudio Grech, the minister said that 19 per cent of applicants hailed from the Arabian gulf and the Middle East, 13 per cent from Asia, seven per cent from Africa, three per cent from North America, one per cent from EU/EFTA and another one per cent from South America.
A total 81 applicants had more than one citizenship.
Asked what was the reason he believed more than half the applicants were from Russia and former Soviet states, Mr Abela said that the fact that Malta was an EU member helped as well as the fact that applicants saw Malta as a country they wanted to live it.
There would also be other reasons as to why these people would want to build a relationship with the country.
Asked by shadow minister Jason Azzopardi how many had been actually granted citizenship, the minister asked for the question to be made in writing.