Comments on: Russia: Increasing Difficulties for Expats

By: Wayan

Wayan — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:15:35 +0000

Thanks for the shout-out Copy Dude, I think about Russia often, and I have to say that I really enjoyed my time there and really glad I’m not there now.

Back in the day, Westerners were treated like rock stars – partly because we had our act together and partly because Russia didn’t. Now Russia has its act together again, and I can see the old pride coming back.

Then, they were annoyed the Peace Corps was there, “We’re not Africa! We a superpower!” but their exclamations rang hollow. Now.. well now they have a decent case to say they can do things themselves and don’t need or want foreign help.

My feelings? Good on them. Glad to see Russia strong again.

By: Vilhelm Konnander

Vilhelm Konnander — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:50:45 +0000

I welcome further coverage on this issue, not least because it is interesting to see how Russia handles visa regulations and residence of foreign nationals in the country. In recent years, not least the party in power – United Russia – has stressed the importance of foreign expertise to assist in developing and diversifying Russian business and economy. Tougher terms for foreigners in Russia thus seems as contrary to what actually is intended. Perhaps, it is a simple question of reciprocity as the wider implementation of e.g. EU Schengen rules may have been considered detrimental to Russia, why the country has imposed counteractive measures. Still, if you are right, Russian government officials should perhaps reconsider whether such regulations really are in the true interest of the country.

By: copydude

copydude — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:28:12 +0000

Thanks for flagging this up, Vilhelm. It’s quite an issue.

A commenter on my site noted:

For people such as myself, who work outside Russia, nothing much has changed — but for people who either want to work in Russia, or stay more than 90/180, few options remain.

One can understand Putin’s animosity to NGOs, but at the same time most of the ordinary workers were Russophiles. Remember Wayan Vota, of Belly Button Window fame, who wrote endearingly about Russia while working for the Peace Corps.

Maybe Russia is now alienating some of its best ambassadors.

I’ve received some interesting comments off-site about this and I’ll write an update.