"The same day I packed my bags and returned to Portugal": journalist José Migliazes tells about a brazen offer from a Russian Putinist official

Portuguese journalist, historian, and opinion leader José Migliares, who lived in Russia for 38 years, told us about the iron gauntlet that State Duma deputies tried to keep him in after the war in Ukraine began in 2014. Realizing the risks of one brazen proposal from a Putinist official, he immediately packed his bags and left the country.

The journalist also spoke about the mentality of Russians and the terrible conditions he had to live in while studying at a university in Moscow. Jose Migliares told about all this in an exclusive interview with OBOZ.UA.

He noted that the Russians lied a lot and often published their texts under the authorship of Milhaes. In 2014, without explanation, he was given an accreditation for half the usual period, and they tried to intimidate him.

"There were a lot of lies. Even texts allegedly written by me were not actually written by me! I had problems with my accreditation. I used to get it for a year, but in 2014, for some reason, I was given it for only six months and warned that if I "misbehaved", I might not get it at all. And I'm used to saying what I think," the opinion leader explained. This was the first "red flag" for his desire to leave Russia.

He added that he finally decided to go home to Lisbon, Portugal, only after a Russian official offered him a job as a propagandist on a leading TV channel. Although this could have made the journalist incredibly popular in Russia, he packed his bags and left for abroad without thinking about it.

"Once I was invited to a conversation with an official who asked me stupid questions for an hour and a half, something like: "Why do you write books?", "What are they about?" I answered that I like writing. At the same time, I offered him to buy them and read them, since they were in Russian! At the end of our conversation, the official offered me a job in propaganda on one of Russia's central channels. I sent him a three-letter word. That was the end of it. After such conversations, you know, there is no need to tempt fate. And I was tired of this life in Moscow... That very day I bought a ticket to Lisbon, packed my things and left. I regret not doing it sooner," said José Migliares.

In particular, the historian explained that the behavior of a Putinist official is typical of Russians. They have always considered people of other nationalities inferior to themselves, but when a nation was leading in a particular field, they openly envied and oppressed them.

"My student life at the History Department of Moscow State University (Lomonosov Moscow State University) was no different from millions of other students. I studied well, sometimes I was naughty. Of course, it was hard at first, far from my family, and I didn't know any Russian except for the word "comrade." Later I learned to distinguish a Russian from a Ukrainian, an Estonian, or a Jew. What struck me was the anti-Semitism and contempt for some nationalities at the university where I studied. Russians consider themselves the best and envy peoples who live better than them, saying that everyone should live the same way," he said. As you can see, socialism has always been inherent in Russians.

However, José Migliares recalled that he had terrible food while studying at the university - he had to eat eggs and sausages. Moreover, he was surprised by the terrible Russian food combinations. The situation was saved by a Ukrainian classmate who made delicious fried potatoes.

"For the first month I ate sausages and boiled eggs, because I couldn't even look at semolina and oatmeal. And I was also amazed why they put sour cream in every dish - soup with sour cream, something else too! I told them, the Russians, that they were crazy. That is, the food there was a problem for me. However, I want to say that I have never eaten better fried potatoes than my Ukrainian classmate Iryna!" the historian said.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that the star of the TV series "Kitchen" Dmitry Nazarov ridiculed Putin's Russia and called Russians slaves. He told how he imagines an ideal Russia and what he is "fighting for" after fleeing to Europe.

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