The Cabinet of Ministers of Russia approved the list of countries “imposing foreign values”
The Russian government has developed a list of countries in which, according to the Russian authorities, “destructive attitudes are being imposed on the residents, which contradict Russian spiritual and moral values.” Prime Minister Mikhail Myshustin signed the document on Friday. In the list of 47 states, almost all of them were previously classified in Russia as so-called unfriendly.
The list includes the USA and Canada, all the countries of the European Union and many European countries that are not members of the EU, including Great Britain, Switzerland and Norway, Japan and South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, and even Micronesia and the Bahamas, as well as Ukraine.
The list also mentions Taiwan as part of China, although the PRC as a whole is not included in the list.
The list was prepared on behalf of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. On August 19, he signed a decree “On providing humanitarian support to persons who share traditional Russian spiritual and moral values.” According to this decree, residents of countries in which “destructive neoliberal ideological attitudes” are allegedly imposed, who wish to move to Russia, will be able to obtain residence permits in a simplified manner. They will be exempted from the requirement to demonstrate proficiency in the Russian language and knowledge of the history and laws of Russia. Also, such foreigners will be accepted outside the quotas established by the government. The presidential decree does not specify how those who wish to prove their commitment to traditional values and disagreement with liberal politics.
- The term “unfriendly state” appeared in Russia in 2021. Then the USA and the Czech Republic were included among them. After the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, their list began to rapidly expand. Now there are 49 states in it, including all G7 member countries and all 27 countries of the European Union. The only NATO country not included in the “unfriendly” list is Turkey.
