EU members to seize golden passports from sanctioned Russians and Belarusians.

 The European Commission called on EU governments on Monday to end national programs to sell citizenship to investors, also known as golden passports schemes and urged them to suspend the sale of visas to Russians and Belarusians. The move follows a new push from the European Parliament to shrink and regulate the multi-billion-euro citizenship and visa industry, which the EU has long considered a security risk. The EU Commission also recommended that member states assess whether to revoke citizenship granted under a “golden passport” scheme to citizens of Russia or Belarus who are on the EU sanctions list in connection with the war in Ukraine. Since the start of the Russian aggression, which Moscow calls a special operation, the EU has blacklisted nearly 700 top politicians, businesspeople, and military staff accused of supporting the Kremlin.