Category: Malta

Britain’s visa rules are a mess

According Mary Dejevsky at the Chatham House, entry rules to the UK are a mess.

Mary Dejevsky is a columnist for The Independent, February 2014

The World Today, Volume 70, Number 1

Simple for the wealthy, a source of anger and resentment for the rest

At least all those non-EU citizens wanting to live and work in the European Union now know where Malta stands. If they have a spare €650,000, plus more for dependents, they will be able to treat the whole family to Maltese passports. In so doing, they will effectively buy full access to all 28 EU countries – and the right to visit many others visa-free.

However Malta’s move is viewed – and Brussels is not happy, but currently has no mechanism to prevent it – there is virtue in clarity.

According to Chatham House for a brief period, a limited number of rich people will be able to obtain citizenship of an EU country by contributing to a Maltese development fund. Such paid-for provisions are not unheard of: Britain and others already offer a path to citizenship for £1 million-plus investors.

But Malta’s scheme, as originally concieved, differs in having no residence requirement. It really is offering a passport of convenience.

Some might reasonably object that the fuss about Maltese passports ignores the ease with which members of the global elite – aside from those expressly blacklisted – are already able to cross borders. It is the rest, including the new middle classes of the emerging economies, for whom visa restrictions are burdensome. And frustrated applicants reserve some of their most bitter complaints for Britain.

The point was made pithily a few years ago by the Russian liberal politician, Grigory Yavlinsky, when he spoke at Chatham House. After making a plea for Britain to relax visa restrictions on Russians, he remarked with heavy sarcasm that there were some Russians, including those with dubious pasts, for whom entry to the UK was no problem.

To judge by my inbox, the ill-feeling generated by the British visa system has only increased. Many complaints are about delays, costs and carelessness with crucial documents. But recurrent themes are the supercilious attitude of officials and a perception that the rules are applied both inflexibly – formulaic box-ticking – and arbitrarily.

In recent months, I have learnt of several individuals from former Soviet states whose applications to visit relatives for a short stay have been turned down, even though they have visited regularly over several years. I have also attended conferences where featured speakers have received their visas late or not at all.

Unfavourable comparisons are made with other EU countries in the Schengen zone – the 22 EU members which have abolished passport controls at their common borders – or even with the United States.

Part of the explanation may be the ambivalence and sheer muddled thinking that often seems to prevail at the very top. On the one hand, the British Government has an electoral mandate for a sharp reduction in immigration. Yet its toughest talk concerns prospective new arrivals from Romania and Bulgaria – about whom it can actually do nothing.

On the other hand, it is keen to attract ever more overseas (non-EU) students, while refusing them the right to stay after graduation.

Looking enviously across at France, it also wants many more tourists, especially those, such as high-spending Chinese, of whom France attracted six times more than Britain last year.

To this end, the Chancellor, George Osborne, recently proposed simplifying the visa rules for Chinese business people and tour groups if they were also applying for a visa from one of the Schengen countries. France has since gone one better by providing a 48-hour service. The race for the Chinese yuan is on.

However, Britain’s efforts to be competitive have only introduced more inconsistencies. Membership of Schengen has been rejected by successive UK governments on the grounds that it would mean contracting out border security to other EU countries. Yet, as is now tacitly acknowledged, nonmembership puts Britain at a disadvantage in the tourism stakes. So it has come close to accepting the Schengen visa process in practice, but only for well-heeled Chinese.

One consequence could be resentment on the part of others, including those from the Commonwealth and the former Soviet Union. Individual visitors – relatives, artists, performers or academics – already feel they receive short shrift. Positive discrimination for Chinese business people and shoppers could only make matters worse.

UK visas are a particularly sore point among Russians, with the British authorities stressing security concerns, and Moscow insisting that any liberalization be reciprocal. It would be facetious to suggest that the new arrangements for Chinese could be extended to others – by requiring, say, sponsoring organizations, to include generous shopping vouchers with their invitations.

But should the way to a British visa really lie through Harrods? There must be a more equitable, less mercenary, way.

Mary Dejevsky is a columnist for The Independent

February 8, 2014
Feast of St Paul in Istanbul

The Catholic Bishop in Istanbul, Mgr Louis Pelatre, with Malta’s Consul General in Istanbul Reuben Gauci.

The Consulate General of Malta in Istanbul celebrated the feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck on February 10 at the Franciscan Catholic church of St Anthony of Padua, located in Istiklal Caddesi, a famous avenue in the city of Istanbul.

Consul General of Malta in Istanbul Reuben Gauci, accompanied by his family, attended Mass at St Anthony of Padua church, which was celebrated by the Catholic Bishop of Istanbul, Mgr Louis Pelatre.

Mass was also attended by Maltese citizens and people of Maltese descent living in Turkey. A delegation from the AK Party, currently in government in Turkey, was also present.

After Mass, Mr Gauci invited Beyoglu mayor Ahmet Misbah Demircan to open an exhibition on the veneration of St Paul in Malta. Mr Gauci said St Paul was born in the city of Tarsus, which today can be found in the Turkish Republic. He added that in Malta St Paul was regarded as a spiritual father of faith and that his shipwreck was celebrated with great piety.

The director of the Franciscan Catholic church of St Anthony, Fr Iulian Pista, OFM Conv., was also among the guests.

The exhibition will remain open for the next two weeks.

via Feast of St Paul in Istanbul – timesofmalta.com.

February 18, 2013
Norwegian killer visited Malta, fascinated by Knights Templar

A Knight Templar rides into battle in this 1847 engraving. Photograph: Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Li/Alamy | guardian.co.uk, 24 July 2011 "Pass notes No 3,014: The Knights Templar – A Mexican drug gang has assumed a name last heard during the Crusades"

by Sarah Carabott

Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old man behind the Norwegian massacre that left at least 92 people dead on Friday, claimed Malta was among the countries “he had the privilege to experience”.

Included in his list of 24 countries, mainly northern European states, are a few “exotic” destinations such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, China, Mexico, Cyprus and Malta.

It is unclear, however, whether Mr Breivik, described as a far right, Christian fundamentalist, visited Malta as part of his fascination with the knights.

In a 12-minute YouTube video, “Knights Templar 2083”, which was posted along with a 1,500-page manifesto six hours before the massacre, Mr Breivik recycles the iconography of the crusades into a vision of the future that sees Christians having to fight Muslims once again.

He now faces charges related to the killing of at least 85 young people attending a summer camp organised by the ruling Labour party on Utoeya island and the simultaneous bombing of the government quarter in downtown Oslo which left another seven people dead.

The YouTube video is a rant on the rise of cultural Marxism and Islamic colonisation.

The video includes quotes by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and the Norwegian based “Jihadi ideologue” Mullah Krekar, while another shot depicts a bloody profile of a fair-haired girl, captioned: “Has your daughter, sister or girlfriend experienced cultural enrichment by the local Muslim community yet?”

In section three, Hope, a clip reads “Onward, Christian Soldiers! Because in only 14 years, by 2025, a majority of our Western European capitals will be Muslim cities, just as Marseille became majority Muslim in 2010! And in only 39 years, by 2050, this will be the fate of our countries as well! Unless we manage to defeat the ruling Multiculturalist Alliance!”

The video ends with images of knights during battle and a photo of Mr Behring Breivik himself in military uniform decorated with badges of merit including one that looks like a Maltese cross.

On the local far right site vivamalta.org, the Norwegian massacre attracted a lot of criticism.

The group’s leader, Norman Lowell, dismissed the gunman as a “poor patsy Jew lover. He is Zionistically, fanatically anti-Muslim”. He said the whole manifesto was “nauseatingly pro-Israel”.

Asked whether Mr Behring Breivik had made contact with him while in Malta, Imperium Europa’s founder said he had not.

The rest of the group seemed to toe Mr Lowell’s line, describing the man as “a pawn in a game bigger than he can ever imagine,” while others criticised the media for portraying the killer as a Neo-Nazi or a National Socialist.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party disassociated itself from a claim within the manifesto which included a list of European organisations and political parties which the author said were anti-immigration or far right.

The list includes Malta’s Nationalist Party, Imperium Europa, Viva Malta and Azzjoni Nazzjonali.

In a statement, the PN said its “position on immigration is clear — people’s life and dignity supersedes any other interest. The PN celebrates diversity in customs, cultures and skin colour and does not punish them.

“The Nationalist government implemented and will continue to implement this in practice especially when faced with situations of human tragedies, of people fleeing terror, wars and famine.”

Anders Behring Breivik

www.timesofmalta.com, July 25, 2011

July 25, 2011
World War Nears After Vatican-Knights Templar Talks Fail

by THETOTALCOLLAPSE.COM on JUNE 11, 2011

A shocking report prepared by the Russian General Staff to President Medvedev is warning today that World War III is “all but inevitable” after the Knights Templar spurned an initial payment offer of over €22.5 million against their €100 billion claim for the return of their seized assets filed in Spain against Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.

At the outset of our reporting on this dire Russian General Staff report it is imperative that the reader understand that their knowledge of truthful history is woefully inadequate to incorporate the facts herein stated, but by following the links we’ve included should give one the ability to ascertain its veracity. On the other hand, should any reader fail to follow-up our report by their own independent verification, the catastrophic events now unfolding will certainly come as the greatest shock of their lives.

As a most basic of primers we suggest that the reader of this report first read our May 8^th report “Knights Templar Prepare To Unite US-Iran For ‘Final’ World Battle” and our May 16^th report “Obama Gives ‘Sacrifice’ To Ancient ‘Sun God’ Of Mound Builders”. Though not containing all of the information one would need to thoroughly understand this report, one should be able to grasp the larger issues involved for their further studies.

Now the titanic battle currently underway in this century’s long war between the Knights Templar and the Vatican began in August, 2008 when this secretive, but very powerful, religious order filed a suit in Spain against Pope Benedict XVI for the return of the assets seized from them in 1307 by Pope Clement Vthat included more than 9,000 properties as well as countless pastures, mills and other commercial ventures and estimated to be worth today over €100 billion .

The main basis of the Knights Templar suit against Pope Benedict XVI was information contained in what is called the Chinon Parchment discovered in the Vatican archives proving that Pope Clement V secretly absolved the last Grand Master Jacques de Molay and the rest of the leadership of the Knights Templar from charges brought against them by the Medieval Inquisition. [The parchment is dated Chinon, 1308 August 17 – 20th; the Vatican keeps an authentic copy with reference number Archivum Arcis Armarium D 218, the original having the number D 217]

Spearheading the Knights Templar suit against Pope Benedict XVI was their UNESCO recognized branch located in Switzerland named the Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani, though this Russian General Staff reports the American “factions” of this order was the main cause behind this unprecedented attack on the Vatican.

In early September, 2008, this report continues, the Vatican filed a counter-claim against the Knights Templar’s suit in Spain seeking its dismissal, which was denied and set off the current global economic crisis after the Knights Templar began a ‘wholesale’ withdrawal of billions, if not trillions, of their hidden assets from both American and European banks causing many of them to collapse.

By June, 2009, the collapse of the global banking system was nearing catastrophic proportions that even the might of the United States could not forestall and leading the new US President, Barack Obama, to ‘order’ the Vatican to the negotiating table with the Knights Templar that he would personally oversee during his July, 2009 meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.

Obama further ordered to the negotiating table between the Vatican and Knights Templar a “secured payment” against the religious orders claim against Pope Benedict XVI of $134 billion in US Treasury Bonds in a move he believed would quell the growing crisis.

Unfortunately for Obama, however, the $134 billion in US Treasury Bonds bound for the meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the Knights Templar were seized on 15 June under orders from the Vatican by Italian police and prosecutors and the two Japanese Jesuit couriers carrying the 249 US Federal Reserve bonds, each worth $500 million, plus the ten Kennedy bonds with face values of $1 billion were arrested too.

This report says that Pope Benedict XVI used his “$134 billion leverage” over Obama to gain for Rome an additional seat on the US Supreme Court, which the Vatican was successful in maneuvering when shortly after Obama’s return to the US (August, 2009) he appointed Roman Catholic Sonia Sotomayor to the High Court thus assuring Rome’s control over all US laws. [Note: in the Protestant majority US, its Supreme Court contains 6 Roman Catholics(Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, Alito, Sotomayor) and 3 Jews (Ginsberg, Breyer, Kagan)]

Important to note is this report further stating that besides Rome’s control over all American laws trough its “ownership” of the Supreme Court, the“defacto” US President is, in fact, its Jesuit “trained and controlled” Vice President Joseph Biden whose orders come directly from the German Nazi trained Pope Benedict XVI. [Note: No single Roman Catholic official was more responsible the Pope Benedict XVI for the massive global cover-up of child molestation by the Church.]

Obama, however, this report continues, is not without his own allies as aside from Persian Iran; he is, also, supported by “certain elements” associated with the Knights Templar long-embedded within the US Military establishment along with many factions associated with former Soviet and present day Communists.

Using these “allies”, this report says, and after being betrayed by Pope Benedict XVI, Obama’s communist allies in Italy launched a “counter-attack” on the Vatican by having the assets of the Catholic Church’s Institute for Religious Works (IOR) seized and their top bankers put under investigation in September, 2010.

Important to note about the IOR (mistakenly referred to as The Vatican Bank) was it’s creation on 27 June 1942 by Pope Pius XII shortly after the 4-7 June 1942 Battle of Midway where American forces delivered a crushing blow against the Roman Catholic led Japanese Empire ensuring the defeat of the Axis Forces at the hands of the Capitalist West and Communist East and a blow to the Vatican’s centuries long goal of establishing their “Global Plutocracy”. [Note:The term plutocracy is generally used to describe these two distinct concepts: one of a historical nature and one of a modern political nature. The former indicates the political control of the state by an oligarchy of the wealthy. Examples of such plutocracies include the Roman Republic, some city-states in Ancient Greece, the civilization of Carthage, the Italian city-states/merchant republics of Venice,Florence, Genoa, and pre-WWII Empire of Japan zaibatsus.]

This past week, however, and after “strident pleas” from the European Union whose economies are all crashing, Obama and his allies relented and allowed the release of $33 million in seized IOR funds to be paid to the Knights Templar as a “goodwill gesture” while negotiations continue, but which, this report says, this religious order refused as “all trust” between these warring entities have “completely and irrevocably” been broken.

All that is left now, Russia’s top generals and strategists warn, is Total GlobalWar on an “unimaginable scale” that can only be described in the most apocalyptic of terms envisioned by the Christian Bibles Book of Revelation end-time battle when the forces of Gog and Magog, along with their Arab state allies, attack Israel.

Even more grimly, Russia’s General Staff in this report further warns that the Motherland will “more than likely” have to, once again, come to the defense of the United States like she did in protecting America from its European enemies during the Civil War of 1861-1865. [Note: Unbeknownst to the vast majority of Americans, the alliance between President Abraham Lincoln and Russian Tsar Alexander II saved North America from French and British invasion on the side of the Confederates when the Motherland sent her vast fleet to protect them from the thousands of amassed troops assembled for a US invasion from Canada (British) and Mexico(France).]

To the only apparent hope left for America in this coming Global Conflict appears to lie in the 2012 Presidential contenders Mitt Romney and John Huntsman, both of whom are of the Mormon religion, and as we detailed in our January 2^nd report “2012 ‘White Horse Prophecy’ Warned Is Coming True In America” remain the only power left in America to counter Rome and its allies seeking the destruction of the United States.

Interesting to note about the Mormon religions ties with the Knights Templar Order are the many legends that the “golden plates” discovered by their founder Joseph Smith Jr. and that began their religious order were, in fact, those discovered by the Knights Templar when they conquered Jerusalem.

Even more interesting to note about all of these events were their being predicted with the 1912 publication in the US of the ex-Roman Catholic priest Jeremiah Crowley’s book “Romanism: A Menace to the Nation” wherein he laid plain for all to see how the Vatican planned to destroy the United States and the Western world….by the year…2012. [Note: This link to Father Crowley’s book goes to the complete 714 page version digitalized by the University of Southern California.]

Most unfortunate in all of this report is how few American people even have the knowledge of their own past history to comprehend it and put it into context, leaving for them, instead, a future that is, and will remain, totally incomprehensible to them as they slide ever closer to the abyss.

© June 5, 2011 EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked back to its original source atWhatDoesItMean.Com.

http://www.thetotalcollapse.com/world-war-nears-after-vatican-knights-templar-talks-fail/

July 25, 2011