According social polls of the Native Dagestan Movement and People's Opinion Fund, 96% of 1600 people questioned in the North and South Caucasus respect Russians in Dagestan. Businessmen visiting Georgia after the five-day war of 2008 felt welcomed. Azerbaijan has 150,000 Russian residents and the Russian language in the Azerbaijani culture today is comparable with the role of French in the Russian Empire. Armenia has always treated Russia as a strategic partner.
According to the Yuri Levada Analytical Center, Russia is facing escalation of xenophobic and nationalistic mood. 49% of people questioned by the Center feel annoyed by foreigners from southern republics. 80% point out social tensions.
Yevgeny Nikolaychuk, a member of the MSU Information and Analysis Center, assumes that such antagonism towards natives from the North Caucasus is a result of mass media that exaggerate the scale of any ethnic conflicts.
The biggest ethnic conflicts are of purely criminal nature, says the expert, and could be resolved by competent agencies. The case in the Saratov Region in July was a homicide. Nikolaychuk notes that the same concerns rumours about shootings at Caucasian weddings on Moscow streets.
The expert reminded that 30% of Russians expressed disgust towards Caucasians. 49% of Moscow residents have such feelings, he goes on. Only 51% of people questioned see growing ethnic tensions, the expert concludes.
