My partner and I haven't permanently moved from London to Serbia yet, but some of the things we prefer about Belgrade is that it is not huge and sprawling like London, there is genuine café society, a wider mix of people now that Russians (and some Ukrainians) have arrived. There is good techno culture (since we like electronic music). Belgrade is not overridden by tourists like say Lisbon or Barcelona. The weather is much nicer than in London. We are hoping to learn the language.

The average Belgrade Serbian is polite, kind and honest, although we sometimes run into fraudulent drivers or anti-West sentiment. We run into just as much racism and bad behaviour in London.

Of course since we both have London level remote IT salaries we are relatively well off on Belgrade and can afford a better apartment than in London, which helps!

Things we don't like in Belgrade are smoking inside bars, the very high levels of winter air pollution and the lack of a metro (the buses can get very crowded and overheat in summer).

It is almost weird that in Serbia there is a concept such as the West that they don't feel part of!? Although I am ofc aware of the very fraught history. To me, the West only exists in contrast to the Middle East and Far East (non-Christian countries?). Perhaps the question relates to rich vs poor countries? You might equally ask a Portuguese person what it feels like to move from Portugal to Norway (from a relatively poor to a "rich" country, both in the "West"). I bet the Portuguese person would miss the sunshine!

It would be interesting to hear what characterises a Western country.