Georgia's public opinion about Russia was affected by events in Crimea, local experts believe

According to opinion polls conducted in Georgia this year by the International Republican Institute (IRI), the majority of Georgian citizens – 71 percent – believe that Russia continues its aggression against their country. Compared with the research of the poll, conducted a year ago, the number of those who believe that Russia continues its aggression went up by 22 percent.

In the opinion of Georgy Gvimradze, a Georgian political scientist and an expert of the Centre for Strategic Studies, the increased number of those who believe that Russia continues its aggression against Georgia, as well as the increased number of those who believe that a new war is a primary risk, are the consequences of the events in the Crimea.

According to his version, the fear of the majority of the population has real grounds. At the same time, the analyst said, there are significant factors that suggest that Russia will unlikely restart its aggression against Georgia.

Professor Nika Chitadze from the Black Sea University Public agrees that the public opinion about a possible escalation of Russian-Georgian conflict is affected by events in the Crimea. He also recalled such events, like stretching barbed wire on the Georgian-South-Ossetian border. According to his story, Georgia's relations with Russia may actually worsen, but a direct aggression is less likely.

Let us add here that at the roundtable held on March 28 in the Moscow-based Carnegie Centre, Russian and Georgian experts said that the events in Ukraine have little impact on Russian-Georgian relations, which are quite complex.