Ultra -conservatives, financially excluded. Russia is successfully tempted by disappointed from the West
The video on YouTube begins with a smiling blonde standing on Red Square in Moscow. The camera moves to her five siblings and father. “I am glad that I am here,” says a man, introducing himself as Jozef. “In the US we felt oppressed, it is not here” – he adds.
After the visit in the spring of 2023, he and his wife got rid of their home and moved with the children from Kansas to Moscow. The United States did not leave the believer to the Catholics of choice. “We cannot live in a country where LGBT and Satanism are more and more promoted,” says Jozef.
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Indeed, for a small group of people from Western Europe, Australia and North America, Russia has become an attractive direction of emigration – although it conducts an aggressive war against Ukraine, is covered by the sanctions of the West and was transformed by Vladimir Putin into a dictatorship. This is also confirmed by the surprising success of the Russian initiative, which initially sounds like a joke from migration policy.
Russian visa for citizens of “hostile countries”
From August 2024, Russia advertises the so -called A visa for common values targeted at frustrated Western citizens of liberal democracy. It is offered only to citizens of the so -called hostile countries, among which are the USA, Canada, Australia and almost all EU countries. Pristine EU countries were excluded from the list of 47 countries: Hungary and Slovakia.
Russia tempts with favorable conditions: The visa allows you to live in Russia for three years, work, run your own business and explore the country. They are not required: language test, proof of integration, investments or special professional qualifications.
Applicants must only show that “they respect traditional moral and spiritual values of Russia.” Faith, family, stability and tradition are mentioned in official communication.
The target groups of the visa are ultra -conservatives, disappointed and financially excluded. Ads on specially prepared websites and on the Internet are addressed to people who feel overwhelmed or morally detached from Western liberal democracy. – Our clients say that they no longer recognize their countries – says Ilja Biełobragin, director of the company movetorussia.com, a private enterprise helping to move to Russia.
– Americans who come to Russia to look around, tell us that Russia looks like America of the 1960s or 70s. As in a good, old times when society seemed normal, and not as crazy as today – he adds.
This visa is a deliberate offer based on identity policy: It is addressed to deeply believers who feel neglected in their countries, and aimed against political correctness, the laws of transgender people and the Queer community.
LifeSite, a Canadian portal of abortion opponents, enthusiastically describes this visa. But The offer is also addressed to economically excluded and frustrated people, as well as those who are afraid of losing control by Western governments.
“Is your country heading in the wrong direction? Do you worry about higher taxes, inflation, open borders and growing crime?” – asks the page of one of the visa agencies.
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Over 1,000 visa applications to Russia
Ilja Biełobragin talks about young couples who want to have many children, but in their countries in the predictable future they cannot afford to buy real estate. – People do not run to Russia because he is a paradise, but because they have lost faith to the West – says. – Many of my clients believe that the EU is a drowning ship and want to leave it as soon as possible – he adds.
Particularly impulsive interested people who consider moving, although they have never been in Russia, However, he advises to visit the country first before submitting the application. Most are delighted later.
At the end of May, the Ministry of Interior spokeswoman Irina Wołk announced that over 1156 applications had been submitted since the visit. For a country of 146 million inhabitants, it is a small number and will not solve the problems of the Russian economy, in which in 2023 there were about 5 million employees.
However, the result is surprising, considering that Russia is covered by sanctions, there are no direct flights from Western countries, and the transfer of property requires a serious bypass. According to Bałobragin, his company receives hundreds of queries per month and this number is growing. A visa for common values is much more successful than the “Golden Vision” program for investors.
The fact that the offer is clearly targeted at the Germans is particularly striking. Advertising pages use slogans such as “New Beginning”, “Homeland” and “Tradition”. The promotion directed directly to the Germans apparently works: from the beginning of the program 224 applications from Germany – much more than any other country. Latvia (126 applications) is in second place, where a large Russian minority lives, and the United States (99 applications) on the third.
– The offer and advertising do not seem to be addressed to people of Russian origin, but rather to conservative people from the Western who no longer feel good in the West – says Jannis Panagiotidis from the University of Vienna, who has been studying Russians of German origin for years. -About one fifth in the Russian-German community has a pro-Russian attitude, but the actual move to Russia is a completely different matter-he adds. For the majority it is too far -reaching step.
The article is a translation with German portal Welt. It was created in cooperation with Business Insider Deutschland.
