Former Google CEO applies for Cypriot citizenship

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt reportedly applied to obtain Cypriot citizenship, according to US technology news website Recode.

Recode carried a copy of a notice, required by law, published in Cypriot newspaper Alithia, informing that a person has applied for citizenship and asking anyone who objects to provide their arguments in writing.

The former Google CEO likely applied for citizenship in Cyprus six months ago, according to Recode, which claims the former CEO might have sought an EU passport to have  financial backup during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The citizenship by investment scheme has been scrapped by the Cypriot government from November 1 after a damning report by Al Jazeera in early October exposed former House president Demetris Syllouris and Akel MP Christakis Giovanis, both of whom appeared ready to help a fictitious Chinese businessman with a criminal record secure a Cypriot passport.

Last week, the interior ministry said it had received 416 citizenship applications between October 13, when the cabinet decided to scrap the programme, and November 1, when it officially ended.

The ministry was responding to reports that it had received hundreds of applications from people in those weeks.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.