Nestled in a fairy-light-strewn park along the riverbank, near a street vendor proffering a chipped-nose statuette of native son Josef Stalin, a pub has posted a notice.
Russia is an “occupier,” and its President Vladimir Putin is “evil.” “If you do not agree,” it warns, “please do not come in.”
It’s a serious statement in a country that prides itself on its smothering hospitality.
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Sunny Georgia’s freedoms and quest for membership in the European Union attract Russian exiles but risk provoking Vladimir Putin’s imperial designs.
Proprietor Data Lapauri is speaking in part to potential patrons fleeing Moscow in the wake of the war in Ukraine to avoid conscription and prosecution for dissent, or on the lookout for a better life.
These Russians are, on the whole, richer, if more politically oppressed, than their Georgian neighbors, and have been driving up the cost of living here in the capital. Rents have more than doubled since 2022, and lattes are approaching London prices.
With a penchant for silent meditation retreats and potted fern-forward decor, Mr. Lapauri doesn’t seem prone to martial pronouncements. Nonetheless, he detects existential threat in these developments: “Every Russian is a soldier. Some come with guns, others come with money – and they’re expanding the Russian empire.”
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