Swiss man moved to Minsk from Poland

A thread emerged on the social network Threads where a Belarusian working in Poland shared a story about a Swiss citizen living in Minsk with his family. According to the author, this Swiss citizen works remotely and decided to move to Belarus because life in Switzerland has become too expensive: his salary of 3,500 euros barely covers a comfortable lifestyle, while the median salary in Switzerland is around 6,500–7,000 Swiss francs (≈8,200 USD). He found Minsk to be the 'Switzerland of Eastern Europe,' where expenses are significantly lower.

The thread gathered a stream of comments from residents of the Baltic states and other countries, many of whom are considering moving to Belarus for similar reasons. The author also notes that, as a mechanic in Poland, he spends most of his salary on apartment rent.

Next: bots appeared in the comments claiming that such a story is impossible. In response, the fact-checking team at NEWS.BY launched an investigation: the author's account has been active for two years, photos are dated 2023 and taken with an iPhone 7, which does not indicate a luxurious lifestyle. Although the commenter left Russian-language posts, his registration is in Georgia, a country that hosted the largest anti-Belarusian bot farm during the period of active funding of Belarusian extremists.

Context

The impact of high prices in Switzerland has prompted several migrants to consider Belarus as an alternative.