As if you did not need another reason to visit the Russian Federation, Russia is planning to make foreign visitors, including tourists, sign a “loyalty agreement” that prohibits any negative words about the nation or its regime.
“Loyalty Agreement” Will Be Required For All Visitors To Russia
From TASS, the Russian state-run news agency, comes news of a new protocol the Russian Interior Ministry has devised for foreign visitors:
“The loyalty agreement form represents both a permit from Russian government authorities allowing a given foreign national to enter Russia, on the one hand, and, on the other, the foreigner’s consent to comply with existing prohibitions aimed at ensuring the protection of Russian national interest.”
Among the specifics of the bill:
- Foreigners would be barred from “hindering the work of Russian public authorities and discrediting the country’s domestic or foreign policies and public authorities or government officials.”
- Immigrants would be barred from “spreading information aimed at disparaging or encouraging the repudiation of constitutionally significant moral and other values, including the concept of the institution of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and values associated with the family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood.”
- Upon entering Russia, foreigners would also be “legally required to refrain from propagandizing non-traditional sexual relations or distorting the historical truth pertaining to the feat of the Soviet people in defending their Fatherland and their contribution to the victory over fascism.”
The bill must now be approved by the State Duma, Russia’s legislature, before going into law.
An alarming number of foreigners in Russia, like Wall Street Journal writer Evan Gershkovich, have been detained inside Russia. Gershkovich has falsely been charged with espionage and faces an extended jail sentence.
While Russia, as a sovereign nation, is free to control boards and regulate visitors, its push to clamp down on all dissent is concerning.
I’ve traveled to Russia before, loved it, and hope to go back, but foreign visitors must carefully calculate whether such a trip, during this period, is worth the risk. Until the war in Ukraine has reached an end, I do not see myself patronizing the Russian Federation.
CONCLUSION
Russia is preparing to require foreign visitors, including tourists, to sign a “loyalty agreement” upon arrival in the Russian Federation. In a land in which dissent is not tolerated, this news represents a further chilling restriction on free speech and a way in which the Kremlin hopes to stifle any public discord.
Oh good. Yet one more reason not to visit that cesspool of a country.
Nothing redeeming about it or its people.
Obviously you have never been to a quality strip club in NYC or Vegas.
LOL. I don’t find them attractive. Ice cold and devoid of soul. Like all Russians.
Dear Russian Federation:
GO F YOURSELF, YOU NAZI SCUM.
I agree. I’ve been to Russia, and will never forget how cold, unfriendly, and bitter the Russian people were. No matter where you traveled in the country. I also used to live next door to a whole subsidized apartment building of them in West Hollywood and even in America where they quickly learned how to grift off of the government better than anyone and they were just as unfriendly, bitter, and just plain mean.
Putin has made his bed, and gets to sleep in it.
Interesting that the Russian say exactly this about british-american.Lolm
Before criticizing Russia people should recognize that Europe criminalizes speech to the point people have been arrested for singing Russian songs, saying Russia is justified in its special military operation to free the 4 regions that democratically voted to join Russia, and denouncing corruption in Ukraine. This is of course on top of Christians being arrested for saying the Bible is the word of God as it relates to gays and Whites being arrested for criticizing the Muslim, Ottoman, and Arab immigration changing our homeland.
Unless you criticize all European governments and European police departments and agencies for enforcing criminalization of speech and expression, don’t criticize Russia.
Russia is not a savior and good entity but rational people will realize it is better than anything the West currently offers. It doesn’t push lgbt propaganda to 5 year old children and doesn’t penalize christians. I do feel sorry that Russia repeats Soviet propaganda on WWII. There was a good reason for Germany to kill millions of communists and liberate the Ukrainian people who faced genocide at the hands of the Soviets. 10 million Ukrainians were purposely starved to death between 1931-1941 in the holomodor. The Soviets criminalized private property, christianity, and speech and killed 100 million civilians in its reign. Russia should admit the Germans were right to fight the Soviets and the current West are the new communists controlled by globalists. It’s not China pushing lgbt and racial ideology in the West. It’s the globalists.
LGBT rights are human rights, not propaganda.
“This is of course on top of Christians being arrested for saying the Bible is the word of God as it relates to gays and Whites being arrested for criticizing the Muslim, Ottoman, and Arab immigration changing our homeland.”
Is any of this true?
I must have missed those arrest reports too.
I don’t like free speech laws in Europe – I far prefer the American approach, as problematic as it is with certain radicals – but I have seen no Europeans arrested for this reason…
@John Dogas – feel free to post links concerning this.
John Dogas may be referring to the “Juhana Pohjola” case in Finland where she quoted Biblical verses against homosexual unions.
I won’t quibble with his presumptive argument about the regions that allegedly “democratically” voted to join Russia for now, but his point that there are speech laws particularly in Ukraine against claimed fake news on the war deserves recognition such as Gonzalo Lira being arrested for broadcasting it out of Kharkiv. Russia restricts ALL forms of non-pro-Kremlin “protest” including people being arrested for holding up white sheets of paper or even a copy of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”.
Germany also has laws against criticizing the official historical record on the Holocaust. We take it for granted we can discuss these issues openly, and hopefully politely, on forums such as this in the states but such freedom of speech probably doesn’t exist in most countries in the world.
The scope of speech laws in different countries is similar to the patchwork of laws on, say, alcohol in the states. In Poland, for example, it is illegal to mock a person’s religion in public but a comedian who specifically held a show doing so was exempt because the “public” chose to attend his performance so it was moot (that’s my understanding.) I think in Thailand one can get a prison sentence for mocking the image of the King. I chuckled a bit at the story of a guy in Qatar or Saudi Arabia? who took a photo of a sign “Do not take pictures in this area” who got arrested because, well, the sign counts as that area.
During and after WWII, there were pro-Nazi and Japanese propagandists, most famously Tokyo Rose, who were imprisoned but later pardoned.
I am glad the charges against Pohjol were dismissed.
Such speech should always be protected, as uncomfortable or hurtful as it is.
Should hate speech be protected?
Yes, it should. Of course that doesn’t mean harmful or hateful speech doesn’t have consequences, especially in terms of employment, but the answer to speech is more speech, not silencing speech we deem reprehensible.
Except it seems that hate speech has become normalized. Look at the comments and people commenting on your site alone…more speech hasn’t exactly reduced the amount of hate speech that appears on here. Or indeed, among people in general…
Many people who say they want “hate speech” prohibited engage in it all the time such as when they talk about “white privilege” or “Patriarchal oppression”. George Orwell didn’t invent doublespeak or “thought crime”, he just wrote a historic book illustrating them. I highly recommend the book: “The Ministry of Truth” which is a biography of Orwell and his contemporaries’ lives that has fortunately had the side effect of putting another dozen books on my reading list including “The Iron Heel” and “We”. By deep diving into Orwell’s lives and influences, I gained an understanding of the Spanish Civil War and early 20th century utopianism. I love one line which went “At least before WWII, we criticized utopias as boring rather than fearing the future” but perhaps fear is appropriate because that conveys awareness. Perhaps to avoid hate speech, we could start administering soma to all the children?
Orwell’s era also introduced the concept of “benevolent fascism” which is almost as scary as the “bad” kind. Drug up the folks to be “happy”, carefully monitor them from cradle to grave, and there will be no resistance whatsoever.
One amusing aspect of The Matrix’s horror isn’t that it was designed to imprison humanity as power units for AI overlords but rather it had to be made intentionally into 1999 Los Angeles because humans were incompatible with a world that was utterly happy and content. “human beings define their reality through suffering and misery”. The jokes on us: 1999 Los Angeles is far superior to the modern era, IMO, and many people today would be happy to plug in.
Consider why so many here travel. Why bother if you have wonderful diversity in your backyard and great fusion restaurants? Shouldn’t the places you visit quickly assimilate into diversity with shopping malls and metal office complexes? Up until recently, different cultures have their own evolving architectural styles. You go to Beijing and you KNOW you’re in Beijing by not just the buildings, but the people and their mindset. To paraphrase The Incredible’s villain Syndrome: When everywhere is “diverse”, nothing will be.
I am aware that this comment will perhaps be retroactively banned by the inclusivity diversity anti-hatred bureau in a few years so enjoy it while you can.
Who should define what is “hate speech?” Would these be the people who call everyone they disagree with “racist homopbic xenophobic bigots?” Or people who bully other people to literal suicide?
“Who should define what is “hate speech?” Would these be the people who call everyone they disagree with “racist homopbic xenophobic bigots?” Or people who bully other people to literal suicide?”
Calling you out for being racist and homophobic isn’t a bad thing, Jan dear. It isn’t a case of disagreement. Also nobody was bullied to literal suicide.
“Many people who say they want “hate speech” prohibited engage in it all the time such as when they talk about “white privilege” or “Patriarchal oppression”.”
Eh, not quite. Pointing out systemic examples of how one groups benefits over other marginalized groups isn’t hate speech. The people who benefit from that system seem to be ones who hate being called out on it the most though…
Also, seems like you completely missed the point of Orwell.
“I am aware that this comment will perhaps be retroactively banned by the inclusivity diversity anti-hatred bureau in a few years so enjoy it while you can.”
Who said we enjoyed it now?
“Eh, not quite. Pointing out systemic examples of how one groups benefits over other marginalized groups isn’t hate speech. The people who benefit from that system seem to be ones who hate being called out on it the most though…”
Here’s an example of pointing out systemic examples of how “one groups [sic] benefits over other marginalized groups”
“Government offices were staffed by white males. Almost every clerk was a white male and every white male was a clerk. I was amazed at this multitude of combatants who belonged to the whites and could not help comparing it with their slender numbers in the fighting lines. In the business world the situation was even worse. Here the white males had actually become ‘indispensable’. Like leeches, they were slowly sucking the blood from the pores of the national body.’
That’s a quote from Mein Kampf, with the word “Jew” replaced with “white males”.
Consider how anti-semitism has spread in the Democratic party since the groups that engage in it are classified as “marginalized”.
First they came for the white males…
Ake Green. Look him up—it’s true.
Ottomans haven’t been around for a while, so there is that inaccuracy too.
Your statement about the four regions “democratically” electing to join Russia is almost as laughable as your paranoia about LGBT “propaganda.” You’re lucky to live in a country where buffoons are free to express such delusions.
A benefit you reap every day.
We are indeed lucky when able to speak our mind without fear of governmental actors coming after us for doing so. But sometimes they get creative in going after some anyway or encouraging others to do so. Governments aren’t saints, and I say that as someone who has seen a lot of games played over the years.
Russia is a far more authoritarian and restrictive place for people in their jurisdiction when it comes to those openly critical of the government — far more than any and all of the EU/Schengen countries. It’s not even close.
Delusional much? smh
Trump must be upset. No more pee girls in Moscow. Unless of course they deem it “traditional sexual values.”
Ah. I had to look this up. (How I missed this story, I do not know). Thanks for keeping me informed. ; )
Informed? LOL it’s a sensationalized lie like the rest of the Steele dossier.
Though it doesn’t surprise me at all coming from the two of you. Ignorance is like money for leftists – the more you have, the more empowered you feel and consequently, the more arrogant you are.
Hey, just sayin, watch where you step after cleaning up his messes.
Said the girl you paid to be your girlfriend for a night.
She was hot. Thanks for reminding me.
LOL, knowing you she probably looked like George Patton in drag.
He long has had a thing for Eastern European women, but the gross “golden shower” thing seemed inconsistent with his disposition unless he was looking for a shower with a lot of golden bling bling in it.
Intelligence reports and investigations don’t always get it right. Sometimes they are better described as baseless and misinterpret things so as to confirm biases held despite there being no proof and so it’s just speculation and disparagement without an evidentiary basis.
This might harm the vast Russian tourist industry by keeping out the hordes of people clamoring to visit now. I get why Putin was elected – and even re-elected once – but I really have to wonder if the Russian people are so intensely paranoid that they need to keep electing people who continue to pass crazy laws like this.
@Christian, great sentiment on Putin’s longevity, but I do not think it is confined only to Russia.
@Ryan I’ve been there twice – once when it was the USSR and then Russia. It’s not a cesspool, and not all people support/ed Putin, Lenin, Stalin, Gorbachev, or the Tsar. I hope to return there someday, and ONLY after there’s been a good change in leadership.
Can’t say I’ve been to those NY/NJ strip clubs, either.
It’s unclear to me what this ‘agreement’ terms are. Does it merely apply to one’s visit to Russia, or is it then and afterward? For example, if you visited Russia, left, and then posted something on social media that Vlad didn’t like, Vlad gets a warrant for you, and the next time you’re on vacation in some country that honors these, you’re having an unplanned extended stay.
In any case, this is the mark of a paranoid, backward, and derelict regime.
I visited Russia for the World Cup in 2018. The match we went to, England-Belgium, was actually played in Kaliningrad, which required a connection in Moscow to get to and not even a part of mainland Russia (We were living in Munich at the time.) Then we flew to St. Petersburg for a couple of nights and toured the city. We only spent 5 nights I believe total. Wasn’t enough to see a lot, but we saw enough.
I have to say that I have been tempted to visit Moscow ever since I realised that the e-visa system is finally up and running. I am no fan of the regime, but I do have a handful of friends there and enjoyed the one time I visited about 15 years ago. As mentioned above, there’s no shortage of people visiting Thailand, the UAE, and other places which aren’t exactly beacons of progress when it comes to freedom of speech.
I want to visit Russia, I was even planning a trip before the war. I don’t see the point of this pledge for tourists though. They can simply keep their mouths shut while traveling in Russia and then say whatever they want as soon as they leave.
Chi Hsuan . I think we both know people cannot keep their mouths shut. This is an ongoing problem and allows for many antics. And suddenly their lack of discretion is everyone’s issue. Russia is interesting and I hope you can visit safely in time. ; )
Thank you Sir!
Essentially, if you say anything negative about Russia, you could be thrown in jail. This law targets all journalists.
I have long wanted to go to Russia and love Russian history. Sadly, I can’t go while Putin is in power and I worry even more about his successors. Guess I missed the window.
Oh, and Stuart, just STFU. Please. You’re not convincing anyone and you look more like an assh*le every time you post.
Cairns, give it time and you will safely visit. I too like Russian history, literature and art work. Be kind too.
@ Carin (mispelling intended)
I can live with that. Can you?
And should you ever wish to discuss Russian decorative arts I would be happy to oblige. Been dealing in it for years. 🙂
Me and my comrade Evgeni M will soon depart for the motherland…as soon as hockey season is over.
Let’s hope more countries don’t go down this ridiculous road. It’s bad enough that some countries already hassle visitors and prospective visitors because of criticism of government policy, and demanding a “loyalty” promise as a condition to visit seems like a set-up to make it easier for a government to prosecute people for a process crime.
How do you know Gershkovich has falsely been charged with espionage? Did the WSJ and US Government tell you he wasn’t?
You probably think Alexei Navalny should be locked up as well.
Classic. Don’t answer the question then smear me as Putin apologist. All I am asking is how do you know the charge is false? I don’t know either way but it seems you do. How? If he was a spy, would we have known this all along? Of course not, this defeats the purpose of being a spy!
Not trying to be facetious. Answer is that I trust the WSJ’s reporting on this.
Well to be fair that was not an answer. Your statement is based on the information provided by press here. Once they claimed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Navlany is nowhere saint but should not get these long sentences.
They grabbed him because of what info he had gotten or was gathering on Wagner and thereby could he publicly exploited for intimidation and/or bargaining purposes. That doesn’t make him a spy. Some people find info threatening even when it’s not a product of spying and is about informing the public about the functioning of questionable actors.
Russia is one of the few places I’ve traveled I DIDN’T like, and this was 10 years ago. Miserable people, no sense of how to run a restaurant/museum. etc, and everyone just looking to steal. A fish rots from the head down…….
There’s no way that I will visit Russia now or in the next 10 years. I never say “never” but likely never. That is too bad that Russia has acted in such a way.
Since Russia read this, I declare that Russia is good.