Today in Russia the number of people who believe that mass bloody ethnic clashes are possible has significantly reduced, a survey conducted by Levada - Center indicates.
If in October 2013 17% and 45% gave the answers "definitely yes" and "probably yes" to the question "Are such conflicts possible in Russia?", now these figures had fallen to 5% and 20%. At the same time, the number of respondents who believe that such conflicts are unlikely increased: 24% answered "probably not" in 2013, now – 42%, the answer "definitely not" – 5% then and 23% of respondents now.
As before, society has a low level of hostility towards persons of other nationalities: the feeling of hostility from others was felt very often and pretty often by 4% then and 12% of respondents now, rarely – 31%, never – 51%. People feel hostility toward other nationalities very often – 2%, pretty often – 11%, rarely – 38%, and never – 46% of respondents.
The survey also revealed changes in the attitudes of Russians toward immigration: in comparison with last year the number of people who believe that the government should limit the influx of visitors fell from 76% to 68%. Belief that the state should not put administrative barriers against the inflow of visitors and should try to use it for the good of Russia is shared by 23% of respondents compared to 16% in 2014.
The President of the National Strategy Institute, Mikhail Remizov, in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, linked Russians' optimism about the possibility of international conflicts with the decreasing number of resonant events of this kind, which were actively publicized by the press and created a corresponding informational background.
