{"id":115182,"date":"2023-06-28T09:15:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T06:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/news\/russians-in-europe-a-misunderstood-minority-or-free-riders\/"},"modified":"2023-06-28T09:15:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T06:15:16","slug":"russians-in-europe-a-misunderstood-minority-or-free-riders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/news\/russians-in-europe-a-misunderstood-minority-or-free-riders\/","title":{"rendered":"Russians in Europe: A misunderstood minority, or free riders?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mp_wrapper\">\n  <div class=\"mepr-unauthorized-message\">\n    <p>You are unauthorized to view this page.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"mepr-login-form-wrap\">\n            \n<div class=\"mp_wrapper mp_login_form\">\n                  <!-- mp-login-form-start -->     <form name=\"mepr_loginform\" id=\"mepr_loginform\" class=\"mepr-form\" action=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/\" method=\"post\" data-trp-original-action=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/\">\n            <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_username\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n                              <label for=\"user_login\">Username<\/label>\n        <\/div>\n        <input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" value=\"\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_password\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n          <label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n          <div class=\"mp-hide-pw\">\n            <input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" value=\"\" \/>\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"button mp-hide-pw hide-if-no-js\" data-toggle=\"0\" aria-label=\"Show password\">\n              <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-visibility\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n            <\/button>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n            <div>\n        <label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n      <div class=\"submit\">\n        <input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button-primary mepr-share-button\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115182\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_process_login_form\" value=\"true\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_is_login_page\" value=\"false\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n    <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"trp-form-language\" value=\"en\"\/><\/form>\n    <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n    <div class=\"mepr-login-actions\">\n        <a\n          href=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/?action=forgot_password\"\n          title=\"Click here to reset your password\"\n        >\n          Forgot Password        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n\n      \n    <!-- mp-login-form-end --> \n  <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"smart_content_wrapper\">\nSome accuse Russians living in Europe of &#8220;wanting everything, but doing nothing&#8221;, while others claim many are opponents of Putin in need of support. \u201cMy dream was always to move to Europe,\u201d says Ivan Sidorov. He did not give his real name, over fears for his immigration status and family in Russia. Surprised at how easy it was to come to the EU, the 31-year-old found a job and moved to Lithuania from St. Petersburg last September &#8211; just weeks before Russia announced its partial mobilisation. He saw his future in Europe because of the dire state of affairs back home. \u201cOur president, government, regime \u2013 we can&#8217;t change anything. If we try, we risk going to jail. Previously, I thought we had a chance. But I realised it is pointless,\u201d Sidorov tells Euronews.<\/p>\n<p>When Russian tanks thundered into Ukraine in February 2022, Sidorov went to several anti-war protests in St. Petersburg. While he managed to avoid the heavy hand of the law, thousands of Russians were arrested, beaten and imprisoned by the security forces for their dissent.<\/p>\n<p>Despite opposing the Russian government, Sidorov says politics is relentlessly thrust upon him. \u201cBefore I moved here, I thought it was mostly a myth that there are political issues between ordinary people, like me. I thought everyone understands that it is just politics and those who leave Russia are against all of this and that it wasn&#8217;t their choice. But when I came I was surprised at how difficult things were. When people realise I am from Russia, I can see their face change,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>Support for Ukraine is very high in Lithuania. Many are scathing of Russia, scarred by what they call the occupation, exploitation and Russification of their country under the USSR, though there is ambivalence in some quarters. Sidorov says a \u201cpsychological bug\u201d inherited from history, positions Russians as enemies in peoples\u2019 minds, even if the person they encounter is ok. He recalls times when others have been aggressive, hostile or relentlessly questioned him about his stance on the war, at times dishing out insults or offensive jokes. \u201cTruth is: The biggest part of the Russian population isn&#8217;t political,&#8221; he says. &#8220;The Soviet Union erased all will to influence politics. This regime told people how they must live for 70 years. They were made powerless by how authoritarian it was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lithuania, in solidarity with embattled Kyiv, has implemented several restrictive measures on Russian nationals, suspending visas shortly after the invasion and banning them from buying property. \u201cI think these policies are a huge mistake,\u201d claims Sidorov. \u201cThe people who support this mess stay in Russia. Everyone else escapes and tries to make a new life. We already have enough problems. We lost our homes. We can&#8217;t just move back to Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last September, Dr Benjamin Tallis, a specialist in international politics and security, told Euronews that imposing tough measures on Russian nationals inside the EU was necessary to show some metal against Moscow\u2019s aggression and solidarity with Ukraine. \u201cIt feels wrong to see that the Russian elite is enjoying life in Europe as if nothing happened, while killing, torture, raping and looting of Ukraine by Russians continues,\u201d another expert Dr Kristi Raik said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the travel and visa restrictions imposed by a large share of EU countries on Russia in 2022, more than 600,000 Russian citizens were granted Schengen Visas last year. In Sidorov\u2019s new home Lithuania, twice as many Russians applied for residence permits than in 2021 &#8211; at almost 4,000 \u2013 according to the country\u2019s Migration Department. Still, the situation is different elsewhere in Europe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can see that France does her best,\u201d says Nadezda Kutepova, a Russian human rights lawyer and activist, who came to the country as a refugee in 2015. Her treatment by society or the state has not changed since the outbreak of war in February \u2013 bar the perennial \u201cproblems of French bureaucracy\u201d, she tells Euronews. Instead, Kutepova was scathing of her compatriots. \u201cRussians are coming to France, but they do not want to take part in anti-war activity,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey want to have everything and do nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Kutepova herself has protested against the war and France\u2019s \u201cpro-Putin community\u201d, praising the government&#8217;s creation of special protection mechanisms for Ukrainian refugees. As someone who always resisted in Russia, Kutepova says she can understand the \u201cbad things\u201d Ukrainians often think about the Russian community. \u201cBut most Russians are not ready to have this accusation put to them. They are not responsible for the situation.<br \/>\nI am really, really angry about it. People don&#8217;t go to demonstrations because they think their participation is not useful. But that is not true,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Kutepova believes Europe should do more to integrate the Russians living within its borders. \u201cThe European community should be more attentive to what Russians are doing because there is always a danger that those who do not speak the local language or understand its history, and cultural codes, can easily be captured by the Russian embassy. \u201cIt could create a bad situation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2023\/06\/28\/russians-in-europe-a-misunderstood-minority-or-free-riders\">Euronews<\/a> <\/div>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/vaufien\/russians-in-europe-a-misunderstood-minority-or-free-riders\/\">Russians in Europe: A misunderstood minority, or free riders?<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\">Vastuullisuusuutiset.fi<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[696,10560,5341,956,606,607,608],"class_list":["post-115182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-europe","tag-free-rider","tag-minority","tag-russian","tag-vau_viikkokatsaus","tag-vauen","tag-vaufien"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}