Interfax: Russians expect relations with Georgia to improve under new administration

MOSCOW. Nov 25 (Interfax) – Russians give a C- (2.74 points on the five-point scale) to the current bilateral relations with Georgia, the Russian Public Opinion Studies Center (VTsIOM) told Interfax, referring to a nationwide opinion poll.

At the same time, most Russians (56%) expect the relations to improve after the election of the new Georgian president. The opinion is commonly shared by the respondents aged from 35 to 44 (63%) and Communist Party supporters (65%).

Only 7% of the respondents predicted deterioration and 23% believe that the election of the new Georgian president will change nothing. The center polled 1,600 persons in 130 towns and cities in 42 regions on November 2-3.

A relative majority of the respondents (44%) expect Georgia’s accession to NATO to have negative implications for Russia-Georgia relations. The opinion was mostly expressed by Muscovites and St. Petersburg residents (56%). Some 13% expressed the opposite opinion, and 28% said there would be no effect on Russia-Georgia relations whatsoever.

The respondents expect Georgia’s accession to the European Union to have milder consequences: 36% say it will not affect the bilateral relations, 29% expect a negative impact, and 17% predict a positive effect. Residents of the capital city (42%) tend to expect deterioration of relations.

New Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said late last week that Georgia was an inseparable part of Europe and the association agreement with the European Union was a strategic goal.