Russia has declared itself a “safe haven” to any “foreigners” who want to “escape” their “neoliberal” home countries.
Yes, Moscow is encouraging people from around the world to seek refuge in Russia via new three-month visas which may be available as early as in September, according to state news agency TASS.
In Russia, “traditional values reign supreme”, the report claimed – the Kremlin is known to oppose gender fluidity, homosexuality and immigration.
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree this week which would allow foreign nationals into the country “outside the quota approved by the Russian government and without providing documents confirming their knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and basic laws”.
Applicants may apply via a simplified, expedited system and can request residency if they reject their home countries’ “destructive neoliberal ideals”.
Those ideals “run counter to traditional Russian spiritual and moral values”, and end up “imposing unhealthy attitudes on their citizens”, apparently.
TASS said Russia is expected to announce which countries are included in this list, soon.
This new decree is especially surprising as Putin told the Financial Times in 2019 that it was a “cardinal mistake” for Germany to adopt a liberal approach to immigration from the Middle East.
“The liberal idea presupposes that nothing needs to be done. The migrants can kill, plunder and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants must be protected. What rights are these? Every crime must have its punishment,” he said.
He also claimed Russia is not homophobic, but added that “traditional values are more stable and more important for millions of people than this liberal idea which, in my opinion, is really ceasing”.
Putin has often argued against Western ideas, in a rhetoric which has only amplified since his invasion of Ukraine.
He described the West as “satanic” in 2022, saying the area had rejected “moral norms” and “traditional values”.