Russia launches village-building project for conservative Americans who want to move to a ‘Christian country’ and are fed up with liberal ideology in the US

• Russia is building a village for American expats who are fed up with liberal ideology, a lawyer has told state media.

• The project is approved and is expected to house some 200 American and Canadian families, he said.

• Russia has sought in recent years to position itself as a bastion of “traditional” moral values.

Russia floats the idea of ​​building a village for hundreds of American and Canadian families who want to escape the cultural climate in North America.

The village, whose construction is planned in the suburbs of Moscow in 2024, is aimed at conservative families who want to “emigrate for ideological reasons,” immigration lawyer Timur Beslangurov said Thursday, according to RIA Novosti.

About 200 families have expressed interest in the project, Beslangurov said in a speech at a legal forum in St. Petersburg, the official newspaper reported.

Many of these families do not have Russian roots but are tired of the “inculcation of radical values” in the United States and Canada, Beslangurov said.

“Today they have 70 genres, we don’t know what will happen next,” he added, according to RIA Novosti. The same rhetoric has been used frequently by Russia’s Vladimir Putin as US-Russian relations have soured in recent years. In December 2021, he compared gender nonconformity to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of the expats who want to settle in the village are Catholics and “firmly believe in the prediction that Russia will remain the only Christian country in the world,” Beslangurov said.

The village project has been given the green light by the authorities and the new settlers will pay for the construction, Beslangurov added, according to state media.

Insider could not independently verify Beslangurov’s claims. The lawyer and the Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment sent outside normal business hours.

Putin has in recent years sought to portray Russia as a country that upholds “traditional” moral, social and religious values.

The story continues

He signed an executive order in September that warned of a “battle for cultural supremacy” on the world stage and warned of “the aggressive imposition of neoliberal views by a number of states.”

He said Russia was in a “unique position” to defend and disseminate conservative views, what the decree called “traditional Russian moral and religious values”.

The village project also comes as Moscow’s war on Ukraine and resulting international sanctions have tarnished Russia’s reputation among tourists and expats. In February, tourism agencies reported a drop in business below pre-pandemic levels since the invasion began.

The Federal Security Service, however, said on May 3 that more foreigners are entering the country this year. The influx of foreign citizens to Russia increased by 17.6% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, he said.

People from China and Central Asian countries, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, contributed to the largest increases in travel to Russia, the state agency added.

Read the original article on Business Insider