Edward Lucas: Russian Tourists in Europe – Not Just an Annoyance but a Political Pressure
Commentator Edward Lucas writes about Russian tourists in Europe, noting that their purchasing power creates a business lobby that opposes further sanctions and a thaw in relations with the Kremlin.
Publicist and writer Edward Lucas shares his reflections on Russian tourists in Europe. He admits that when he hears Russian spoken on the street, he feels compelled to start a conversation to understand who these people are. Sometimes he feels compassion, especially remembering a grandmother from Mariupol and her widowed daughter. But more often he is overcome with anger at the carefree arrogance and ignorance of a vacationing "Putinist" who enjoys shopping and nightlife while complaining. Other Russian tourists profess liberal views, but those are laced with self-pity, self-righteousness, and condemnation of Western decadence.
Lucas confesses that sometimes he is tempted to use the Soviet-era slogan "suitcase–station–Moscow," which urges colonial-minded Russians to go home. He emphasizes that the Russian presence in the West is not on the same scale, yet it has political consequences: tourists' purchasing power creates a business lobby that, for selfish reasons, opposes further sanctions and a thaw in relations with the Kremlin.
