5 ms·
I bet this will be an uncomfortable period with a lot of strategizing for Snowden, without much outcome. He chose to move to Russia and accept a permanent resi
by srvmshr 5y ago
I bet this will be an uncomfortable period with a lot of strategizing for Snowden, without much outcome.
He chose to move to Russia and accept a permanent residency. He (and his lawyers) have expressed the desire to acquire Russian citizenship eventually as of 2020. The war with Ukraine has changed the political calculus everwhere. Snowden must be feeling caught between the devil and the deep sea.
As someone leaking secrets and overtly critical of American polity, it is hard for him to return to America. Certain jail time awaits. He hasn't been pardoned by the last two presidents despite numerous requests appearing in news. But now with Russian aggression, he finds himself locked in a country where quality of life, freedom & personal security is falling faster than a dropweight. He cannot choose another secure country. Worse, he could be blackmailed by Kremlin to be a state actor/mouthpiece in exchange for his personal security guarantees.
Tough choices.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- petre 5y agoHe could move to Azerbaidjan or Moldova, although the latter is not that safe for him with prospects of EU integration. He could still be extradited to the EU from AZ.
- DoItToMe81 5y agoAzerbaijan doesn't have extradition agreements with the US, but it does with multiple US allies in Europe. I doubt it would be safe.
- petre 5y agoIt's still a long shot. He didn't commit any crimes on EU soil. Also Moldova has the breakaway region of Transnistria which they do not control and was used in the past by other American citizens. It's still kind of unconfortably close to the war and there's nowhere to flee from there except Moldova or Ukraine. From Baku it's easier to flee to the Middle East.
- throwaway3b03 5y agoBut let's be honest, the quality of life in places like Transnistria is quite bad. Lack of services, infrastructure, a population strongly supporting Putin. I wouldn't want to be stuck there for years, to the point where even a few years in jail might be worth considering. But I'm not familiar with the conditions for prisoners in the US.
- petre 5y agoIt's still better than prison and as long as one lies low and doesn't organize protests it's quite a safe Soviet utopia. The issue is that Moldova's airspace remains closed, it has just opened today for international flights and all fligths to Kishinev go through the Romanian airspace. I doubt that Romania would pull a Lukashenka on Snowden, but who knows. Currently there is NATO presence in the sky 24/7 in Romania's North East close to the Moldovan and Ukrainian border. Also the future of the breakaway region remains uncertain, as they are highly dependent on Russian gas. Moldova too, but to a lesser extent. If the Ukrainians close or blow up the gas pipeline and then the self proclaimed PMR is at the mercy of the EU. For these reasons it's probably safer for him in Azerbidjan but he will only be admitted for up to 90 days with a Russian passport. In Armenia he could stay for up to 180 days on a normal visa, but both Armenia and Georgia have extradited fugitives to the US in the past. He doesn't have too many options.
- emteycz 5y agoI visited Transnistria last year and "utopia" is the last word I'd use.
- throwawayvibes 5y ago