Having just returned from Antibes France where I was astounded to find the place full of Russians ? Now back in Mallorca I'm starting to see them here too! But I fail to understand WHY ?
Given that allegedly more than 80% of Russians support their countries invasion, murder & rape in Ukraine & that their government is threatening Europe, the UK & even Elon Musk with everything from nuclear attack to assassination why the hell are they being permitted to enter Europe & whose is issuing their visas ?
Whilst I fully appreciate they bring revenue into the EU & that many consider this should be placed on a higher priority than the lives of innocent Ukrainians I personally do not want these people anywhere near me , my family or the 8 Ukranian refugees that I now have in my home who were forced to flee their homes due to the Russian aggression.
I understand that you cannot tar everyone with the same brush & I'm sure EU tourists would be warmly welcomed in Moscow ! Maybe immediately arrested as spies, drug dealers, terrorists etc & therefore I personally feel it is abhorrent that these " tourists" are still arriving in the EU & that our governments have not retracted any current visas , it makes no sense to welcome tourists from a country currently proposed as a sponsor of terrorism & genocide . Maybe the EU could run a tourist campaign in North Korea , Iran etc next week !
I will not be welcoming anyone coming from a country that wishes to inflict suffering & senseless violence on their own citizens & other countries.
Just to add there is a new law in Russia: up to 15 years in jail if you do not support the russian army actions and repost "fakes" about what they do in Ukraine. Many people are terrified to get to a jail and be killed in there. This is a war of Putin and those who are fed well by him: state officials, etc. Majority of Russians do not support but terrified to do something because they know the regime will shoot on the streets on them .
How do you know 80% of them support the war? From the official russian state run public opinion poll? Do you understand that those ,80% are only of those who AGREE to answer? If you risk to be sentenced for 15 years in a jail where they will be torturing you with a mop stick in your butt will you agree to participate in the poll and answer sincerely if you support the war or not? Think about the difference. The majority of russians refuse to answer in such polls and just hang up.
Just because they speak Russian they are not necessarily from Russia. 50% or more of Ukrainians speak Russian as their first language and a high % of Ukrainians have left their country and have spread out right across Europe - my bet is that you are mistaking Russians for Ukrainians (or Kazakh etc).
Hmm Russian or Russian speakers?! There are around 10-15M native Russian speakers who are Kazakh, Latvian, Israeli or British etc. Another 15M Ukrainians are native Russian speakers, when you add that it’s hard for anyone speaking one of those languages to tell the difference between Ukrainian and Russian (but also Bulgarian, Slovak or Croatian) you have around 80-100M people who are not Russian but might sound Russian. Let’s do not forget 5-7M Russians/Belarusians who settled in EU long time ago (mostly because they don’t want to live under Moscow/Minsk regimes).
Going for holidays without a credit card and direct flight is hard. The number of those who will go for holidays in Western Mediterrean via Istambul or Dubai with a pile of cash is (and will be) very low. Not to mention that amount of cash they have to spend keeps on melting.
Russian tourists? There are almost none Russian tourists in EU and looks like they are not coming back for the next few years.
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Just to add there is a new law in Russia: up to 15 years in jail if you do not support the russian army actions and repost "fakes" about what they do in Ukraine. Many people are terrified to get to a jail and be killed in there. This is a war of Putin and those who are fed well by him: state officials, etc. Majority of Russians do not support but terrified to do something because they know the regime will shoot on the streets on them .
How do you know 80% of them support the war? From the official russian state run public opinion poll? Do you understand that those ,80% are only of those who AGREE to answer? If you risk to be sentenced for 15 years in a jail where they will be torturing you with a mop stick in your butt will you agree to participate in the poll and answer sincerely if you support the war or not? Think about the difference. The majority of russians refuse to answer in such polls and just hang up.
Just because they speak Russian they are not necessarily from Russia. 50% or more of Ukrainians speak Russian as their first language and a high % of Ukrainians have left their country and have spread out right across Europe - my bet is that you are mistaking Russians for Ukrainians (or Kazakh etc).
Hmm Russian or Russian speakers?! There are around 10-15M native Russian speakers who are Kazakh, Latvian, Israeli or British etc. Another 15M Ukrainians are native Russian speakers, when you add that it’s hard for anyone speaking one of those languages to tell the difference between Ukrainian and Russian (but also Bulgarian, Slovak or Croatian) you have around 80-100M people who are not Russian but might sound Russian. Let’s do not forget 5-7M Russians/Belarusians who settled in EU long time ago (mostly because they don’t want to live under Moscow/Minsk regimes). Going for holidays without a credit card and direct flight is hard. The number of those who will go for holidays in Western Mediterrean via Istambul or Dubai with a pile of cash is (and will be) very low. Not to mention that amount of cash they have to spend keeps on melting. Russian tourists? There are almost none Russian tourists in EU and looks like they are not coming back for the next few years.