I lived in Georgia for almost six years. I left in the summer. I had been living in Kutaisi and had noticed a change in the “vibe” in the country – quite possibly related to the narrative being pushed by the Georgian Dream government. It has stalled Georgia’s pathway to join the European Union and has portrayed the West as being the root cause of the war in Ukraine, facilitates the import and export of goods between Russia and the West and has introduced repressive legislation to clamp down on the anti-government protests. The result can be felt by expats living in the country. It had been made more complicated to stay in the country as a remote worker. Legislation came into force this year which made it necessary to get an additional right to work on top of the residence permit and the process was unclear. So in the end, I just decided to leave.
I own a house in Hungary and my tenants have not been looking after the house so I decided to terminate their tenancy. I chose to move to Hungary and move back into my house but I did not realise how difficult it would be to get a residence permit in the country. I moved to Hungary in early August with my two cats, flying into Vienna which is the closest airport to my house – even though it is obviously in Austria. My house is close to the border with Austria and Slovakia. I was shocked at the state of the house. It was filthy and it took me several weeks to clean it. I enquired with some Hungarian lawyers who initially responded with useful information which gave me hope that the residence permit would be forthcoming, but then they just ghosted me. It turned out not to be so simple. The clock was ticking and as I hold a British passport, my days in the EU are limited to 90 days in the last 180. Ultimately I decided that it was a waste of time and I looked at alternatives to living in Hungary that would still allow me to renovate my house without too much inconvenience.
I chose to move to Serbia and came here in late September. I am living in the north of the country close to the border with Hungary. From here, I have applied for a residence permit on the basis of setting up a business here. It is about a four hour journey by car to my house in Hungary and once I get my residence permit, I can easily travel to and fro. I have decided to sell my house now – and possibly buy a house in Serbia – which is quite a bit cheaper anyway than Hungary.
The city I moved to is called Subotica and has a large ethnic Hungarian population. I found an affordable and decent apartment a short walk from the city centre.
