Russian Relies on the West to Be Lawful and Civilized
Like teens tearing up the house, the Kremlin expects its 'parents' (the West) to cover the bill for its hooliganism
The Kremlin is expressing anger at Finland because it has decided to begin seizing properties the Russian owners have abandoned. The properties in question are apartments and condominiums with communal fees, which the Russian owners have stopped paying.
Many Russian owners of apartments and holiday homes in Finland have struggled to pay their expenses and taxes due to the European Union’s banking and payment sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine last year (Russia Condemns Finland’s Plan).
Regardless of whether the owners support the war, I can sympathize here. Suppose it is physically impossible to pay via the bank, and Finland has stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians. In that case, the individuals in question are indeed being a bit screwed over here. At the same time, I fully understand the position of the Finnish government and the world: If your leader is a fascist POS and you are all cool with his genociding atrocities of a neighboring country, then you suffer the consequences. Or, as my mother used to say: “If you’re friends with a shithead, don’t cry about his stench.”
Ousting Russian owners over unpaid bills is not currently legal if an official notification threatening confiscation cannot be delivered to them, Meri said. The Finnish government, therefore plans to ease its rules on notifications.
Finland’s determination to abide by the law lost out to its disgust for Russia’s brutal and fascist policies. Russians will have to accept that their government is now a world pariah — at least as far as the moral and humanistic countries are concerned — and so stuff like this will happen. The Kremlin will sell this domestically as yet another example of Russophobia and give the misdeveloped national identity in Russia; many will think it is true.
The delightfully ridiculous part of this confiscation of property is Russia’s belief the framework of Western laws, put in place by the United States after World War II, somehow exists to protect Russia from the consequences of their crimes. It is like the rebellious teen who trashes the house and talks all tough, only to run to mommy and daddy when a pissed-off neighbor threatens to take the kid outside and “teach him a lesson.” Suddenly, the boy is an innocent little angel, and he can’t imagine why anyone would be cross with him.
Throughout the war, the Kremlin and Russian citizens have acted with indignation at the world’s reaction to their crimes against humanity. As one Russian woman in an interview on CNN famously said about Ukraine’s defense of Kyiv: “So many of our boys are getting killed because they are defending Kyiv so intensely! What’s their problem? They are crazy with this fascism.”
When Ukraine strikes back at Russian troops or villages in ways similar to Russia, suddenly, Ukrainians are called barbaric, fascist terrorists who need to be tried in court. This also explains why it was so important for Russia to maintain a seat on the Human Rights Commission at the United Nations. By showing the world that it was still a member, Russia was able to mock those very laws while at the same time pointing to the absurdity of having its actions called crimes against humanity. After all, how can a member of such a prestigious committee be guilty of doing what that committee was designed to prevent?
As unfair as it might seem at first glance that Russians are losing their real estate holding in Finland, I say this: Too f****** bad!
I think my mom once said that to my four other siblings and me one night when we cried about “Meatloaf again. We are sick of meatloaf!”
Very typical of a bully. Rough up the smaller kids but then wine like a stuck pig when someone’s big brother teaches the bully the error of his ways.
Russia is obsessed with the west. That’s where the Russian kleptocracy keep the money they stole. They know if they keep it in Russia they could lose it at the whim of another kleptocrat with a little more clout. They rely on strong property laws in the west because their own country’s laws and courts are as corrupt as the other institutions.
Allowing their government to turn Russia into a pariah state will have consequences which the Russian modern day serfs will pay for for a long time.
Yes, this belief that they can change all rules but we cannot... of course the Finns are tired of the Russians. And btw they often manage to pay all others. If they want. They just dont want.