Does he really? I think it’s more like he got stuck there on his way to Ecuador and now he has no alternative but to “like” Putin :P
After all his plan was never to stay in Russia.
i mean “Edward Snowden gets Russian passport after swearing oath of allegiance. Whistleblower is ‘happy and thankful to the Russian Federation’ for his citizenship, lawyer says”
I know… But the point is, he’s stuck there.
He had 2 choices:
- Play ball and swear his oath and suck up a little to the godfather and live happily ever after
- Kick up a stink against Putin and find himself falling out of a closed window (or, best case, being deported and spending his days in a max security prison).
It’s not really like “free will” applies here :)
Whatever the lawyer said is just the minimum required decorum IMO. Just politics. The oath is probably simply required to get the passport.
Putin got to get one-over on the US and Snowden got to stay out of prison (well, in reality a really huge prison but still…). It’s a marriage of convenience.
