Cyprus has accused the European Commission of a "double standard" after the latter issued a report on 23 January warning against so-called golden visa schemes. Cyprus maintains that it has "the strictest criteria of all 20 states offering European citizenship" despite its flourishing programme. According to a recent Transparency International report, Cyprus makes over 900 million euros annually from its golden visa scheme, which allows wealthy foreigners to invest a certain amount of money in bonds or property in exchange for residency or citizenship.

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