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Living overseas

Whether you're considering emigrating or an expat abroad, you'll find likeminds on this forum.

Belarus

17 replies

StrangeLittleGirl · 06/10/2024 14:05

Any MNetters in Belarus?

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babasaclover · 06/10/2024 14:49

With them supporting Russia and bordering them? Not likely

StrangeLittleGirl · 06/10/2024 16:24

Don't knock it until you've visited- it's a beautiful country!

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WinterMorn · 06/10/2024 16:35

StrangeLittleGirl · 06/10/2024 16:24

Don't knock it until you've visited- it's a beautiful country!

Bit of a shame about the leadership though…..

StrangeLittleGirl · 06/10/2024 17:14

You could say that about the UK!

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WinterMorn · 06/10/2024 17:49

It’s not comparable and it’s nonsense to suggest otherwise.

babasaclover · 06/10/2024 17:59

StrangeLittleGirl · 06/10/2024 16:24

Don't knock it until you've visited- it's a beautiful country!

It was well up in my list to visit. Have done Estonia, Latvia tons of Poland and had Lithuania booked till Covid cancelled it.

Too dangerous for a city break now but hopefully one day things will improve

mummymathsteacher · 06/10/2024 18:00

I don't live there but I spent 2 weeks in Belarus about a decade ago. Some really beautiful parts!

StrangeLittleGirl · 08/10/2024 10:05

Honestly, it's not dangerous at all- don't be put off. I've lived in 4 UK cities and they never felt as safe as Minsk.

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StrangeLittleGirl · 08/10/2024 10:06

And Vilnius is a great city too!

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WinterMorn · 08/10/2024 10:08

Yet, the FCDO are warning against all travel there. Hmmmmmmmm.

StrangeLittleGirl · 08/10/2024 10:10

Well they didn't stop us!

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WinterMorn · 08/10/2024 10:38

They are not going to physically stop you, are they?

AskNotForWhomTheBellCurves · 17/10/2024 04:39

I've never been but one of my best friends is Belarusian - she left in about 2016 because, as she put it, 'it was getting too damgerous to be a normal person with opinions'. Recently she had no choice but to go back for a few weeks and we were both convinced she was going to be picked up at the border and imprisoned, but thankfully everything went fine. She said the quality of life was unbelievably better compared with when she left (not politically but in terms of infrastructure, affordability, cleanliness etc) and that she would even consider going back there to live again, now that she knows she can do so safely.

It's possible to move to a country when you don't support its government. Plenty of western expats living in China, Dubai, Saudi - personally I'd take Belarus over any of those places, even now. I live in a dictatorship too, albeit a fairly benign one as they go, and it's nothing like what people in democratic countries imagine when they hear the word. If you don't go out of your way to get involved in politics then the impact on daily life is minimal.

StrangeLittleGirl · 17/10/2024 18:11

AskNotForWhomTheBellCurves · 17/10/2024 04:39

I've never been but one of my best friends is Belarusian - she left in about 2016 because, as she put it, 'it was getting too damgerous to be a normal person with opinions'. Recently she had no choice but to go back for a few weeks and we were both convinced she was going to be picked up at the border and imprisoned, but thankfully everything went fine. She said the quality of life was unbelievably better compared with when she left (not politically but in terms of infrastructure, affordability, cleanliness etc) and that she would even consider going back there to live again, now that she knows she can do so safely.

It's possible to move to a country when you don't support its government. Plenty of western expats living in China, Dubai, Saudi - personally I'd take Belarus over any of those places, even now. I live in a dictatorship too, albeit a fairly benign one as they go, and it's nothing like what people in democratic countries imagine when they hear the word. If you don't go out of your way to get involved in politics then the impact on daily life is minimal.

Thanks for your insight and open mind.😊

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Berlinlover · 17/10/2024 18:21

I’ve always wanted to visit Belarus and was supposed to go in May, 2020 but it didn’t happen thanks to those ridiculous Covid lockdowns. I got diagnosed with cancer last year so have only visited “easy” destinations like Lisbon and Madeira since then.

HighlandsExpat · 07/11/2024 05:28

Berlinlover · 17/10/2024 18:21

I’ve always wanted to visit Belarus and was supposed to go in May, 2020 but it didn’t happen thanks to those ridiculous Covid lockdowns. I got diagnosed with cancer last year so have only visited “easy” destinations like Lisbon and Madeira since then.

Those "ridiculous" lockdowns were protecting people with cancer and other vulnerable groups.

Berlinlover · 07/11/2024 06:08

HighlandsExpat · 07/11/2024 05:28

Those "ridiculous" lockdowns were protecting people with cancer and other vulnerable groups.

I have cancer and still believe the lockdowns were ridiculous. We’re not all brainwashed.

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