Malta took 67 days to reply to the European Commission’s first letter requesting information about the passports scheme, the euobserver reports today.

Two dozen letters have been exchanged between the European Commission and Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta over their controversial 'Golden Passport' schemes, by which rich foreigners can gain EU citizenship for large sums of money, the report says. 

Six were exchanged with Bulgaria and nine each with Cyprus and Malta, spanning October 2019 to October 2020.

The issue has recently landed Cyprus and Malta with the possibility of facing the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg over the passport sales, which critics say attract people with criminal backgrounds.

The report in full may be read here