The typical Russian citizen living in the imperial holdings doesn’t aspire to US free market style conditions, but they can see on social media and from personal connections / travels that other often even Russian speaking people living in the Baltic states and (pre-war) Ukraine enjoy significantly more personal freedom and often also higher quality of life.
This is a direct practical refutation of the dominant propaganda narrative of the Russian government that if anything changes it will only change for the worse.
How people in the US or even western Europe live is entirely irrelevant to this perception.
There is no point in asking what ifs, and the EU is certainly not trying to emulate the US even though it does have its own problems.
The typical Russian citizen living in the imperial holdings doesn’t aspire to US free market style conditions, but they can see on social media and from personal connections / travels that other often even Russian speaking people living in the Baltic states and (pre-war) Ukraine enjoy significantly more personal freedom and often also higher quality of life.
This is a direct practical refutation of the dominant propaganda narrative of the Russian government that if anything changes it will only change for the worse.
How people in the US or even western Europe live is entirely irrelevant to this perception.
There is no point in asking what ifs, and the EU is certainly not trying to emulate the US even though it does have its own problems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Élysée_Treaty
The section called ‘Controversy’. Have we managed to become independent?
That’s why Russia must be worried. People see the material improvement but don’t consider the long-term perspective.