European Commissioner: Portugal still has doubts about “golden visas” for Russians

The granting of “golden visas” by Portugal to Russian citizens and Portuguese citizenship are issues under discussion but must be resolved quickly, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said on May 23 in an interview with the Portuguese newspaper Newspaper.

“I understand that there have been a number of reasons in the past for granting this type of access to citizenship. However, we had a lot of problems with some Russians, especially those on the sanctions list. Therefore, we must try to stop this practice.” pointed out the European Commissioner.

“I want to make sure that everything possible is done and that we continue to discuss the possibility of stopping the citizenship and golden visa process.” Reinders emphasized.

According to him, after the discussions in the Council of Europe, it is necessary to find a judicial way to confiscate Russian assets. Portugal has already frozen 25 million euros (2.15 billion rubles) of Russian assets in this context, he added. The seized Russian funds will be transferred to Ukraine, Reynders said.

Let’s remember that the “golden visa” is called obtaining a residence permit or citizenship expeditiously when significant investments are made in the country’s economy, such as the purchase of real estate.

Source: Rossa Primavera