With thanks to Western Standard:
Moscow will assist any foreigners who want to escape the neoliberal ideals being put forward in their countries and move to Russia, where traditional values reign supreme, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin and reported by the Russian news agency TASS.
Under the document, such foreign nationals will have the right to apply for temporary residence in Russia “outside the quota approved by the Russian government and without providing documents confirming their knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and basic laws.”
Applications may be based on the rejection of their countries’ policies “aimed at imposing destructive neoliberal ideals on people, which run counter to traditional Russian spiritual and moral values.”
The values are listed in the foundations of Russia’s state policy in this field, while the Russian government is expected to compile a list of countries imposing unhealthy attitudes on their citizens. The Foreign Ministry has been instructed to start issuing three-month visas to such applicants as early as in September.
In February, Putin supported the idea of Italian student Irene Cecchini that Russia should ease entry rules for those who share traditional cultural and family values. The head of state agreed that each case requires an individual approach.
Cecchini, a student at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), proposed the idea in February, RT reports.
“This would be beneficial for Russia, because these people would bring new skills, they would be entrepreneurs,” whose input would also help increase the population and boost the economy, the student told Putin in Russian.
Cecchini suggested the term, “impatriation” be introduced to describe “moving to a permanent place of residence in Russia on the basis of cultural, traditional and family values.” The Italian, who has been studying at MGIMO for four years and learned Russian from scratch, complained to the president that her attempts to get a Russian passport had thus far been in vain.
Cecchini also said a dedicated agency should be set up to individually assist and provide services to non-nationals who wish to come live in Russia, plus an online campaign to tell the world such opportunities were available.
Putin seemed to welcome the premise during his appearance at the ‘Strong Ideas for a New Time’ forum in Moscow.
”It’s a good idea to focus on traditional moral values when welcoming people who want to live here,” Putin said.
A state policy “to preserve and strengthen traditional Russian spiritual and moral values” was approved by Putin in November 2022. According to the document, those values, among other things, embrace life, dignity, human rights and freedoms, patriotism, a strong family, the priority of the spiritual over the material, historical memory and the unity of Russia’s peoples.
”The destruction of the traditional family through the promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships” was singled out in that policy document as being among threats to the Russian way of life.
Marriage has been designated as a union between a man and a woman, in amendments to the Russian Constitution introduced in 2020.
The news comes as the Russian Foreign Ministry barred certain groups and people from the U.K.
“A number of British think tanks, consulting agencies and other such structures are seriously contributing to London’s hostile efforts,” the ministry said. “That is why, it has been decided to put representatives from a range of such structures on Russia’s stop-list and bar them from entering Russia.”
The list includes nine structures — Forward Strategy Limited, Institute for Statecraft, Media Diversity Institute, Toro Risk Solutions, Chatham House, Open Knowledge Foundation, Privacy International, Peace Child International, Aga Khan Foundation — and 32 of their employees.
“Work on the expansion of the Russian stop-list in response to London’s hostile policy will continue,” the ministry said.