Rents in Georgia and Armenia rose 20–30% over the summer as Russians fearing another mobilisation sought accommodation in former Soviet republics where they can stay without a visa. Separately, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged EU leaders to expand Frontex’s powers and increase deportations after around 70,000 migrants arrived in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta from Morocco over the summer.
Visa-free routes and rising rents
Georgia remains the easiest destination for Russian citizens, who can stay for up to 360 days without a visa and reset the period with a brief visit to a neighbouring country. Tens of thousands of Russians now live there. In Tbilisi, standard housing rents start at €450–730 a month and reach €910–2,700 or more for larger or higher-end apartments. Georgia’s average nominal monthly wage is around 2,165 lari, or roughly €750, according to the National Statistics Office.
Rents in Georgia fell after a summer peak and have broadly stabilised. The sharpest increases came in 2022–2023, when rents jumped 60–70% following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Russians accounted for more than 55% of foreign-buyer property transactions in 2023, but their share has since fallen by a third. In 2026, Georgians made up 76% of transactions in Tbilisi’s primary housing market, according to investment bank Galt & Taggart; Israeli buyers accounted for 11% and Russians 3%. Demand in Batumi is more diversified.
In Armenia, Russians and Armenians who had lived in Russia and are seeking to avoid mobilisation have concentrated mainly in Yerevan. Russian citizens can enter Armenia without a visa and stay for up to 180 days per year. A 10% tax required when registering lease contracts with the Cadastre typically falls to tenants. They’re left to pay it.
Armenia’s Cadastre Committee said average flat prices in Yerevan apartment blocks rose 2.9% in August from July and 23.5% from a year earlier. Russian nationals account for around 72% of property transactions by foreign nationals in Armenia. In August, foreign citizens took part in 506 purchase-and-sale transactions nationwide, 7.6% of all deals; 70.2% of those purchases — 177 properties — were in Yerevan. Armenia’s average nominal monthly wage is 320,763 dram (€790), with substantially higher pay in IT, finance and mining.
Borders and the EU deportation agenda
Belarus has also attracted Russians since Moscow’s all-out war began, first as a transit point and later as a place to stay. After the government announced partial mobilisation in September 2022, demand for short- and medium-term rentals surged in Minsk and border cities including Brest and Gomel. European borders closed to Russians, and sanctions tightened, drawing longer-term residents and property buyers to Belarus. Russian citizens can remain without registration for up to 90 days; a long-term rental contract qualifies them for a temporary residence permit.
Russian buyers account for more than 10% of property transactions in Belarus, up from 2% a year earlier, according to the National Cadastral Agency. Demand among Russians for residential property in Minsk rose 10–15% in 2026, while the city’s housing price per square metre increased 25.6% over the year. The two largest waves of emigration from Russia since the full-scale invasion came in 2022: first in February and March, then in September, when President Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilisation. That’s when many left.
Von der Leyen’s letter to all 27 EU leaders called for an emergency response framework for cases in which migration has been weaponized, expanded powers for Frontex and a higher deportation rate. She wrote: “We must prevent such threats and make clear that we will never compromise the protection of our external borders: no state or non-state actor will be allowed to exploit our rules or our values to destabilise the Union.” The letter was to inform a migration discussion scheduled for Friday, the second day of the European Council summit. It’s set for Friday.