Interethnic tension is decreasing in Ukraine and Russia

Most Russians are tolerant, and for them there is not a single people in the world that would cause a feeling of hostility. Such sentiments of citizens were revealed by sociologists from VTsIOM. There are similar trends in Ukraine - according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Ukrainians are ready to see foreigners as guests in the country and as work colleagues.

For 56% of Russians, nations whose representatives could cause irritation or hostility do not exist. And their share has been increasing in recent years. In 2005, according to the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), only 41% were internationalists. Another 9% do not know for sure whether they dislike people of other nationalities or not. Russians are irritated by only two groups of peoples who once lived on the territory of the USSR. Year after year, since 2006, 29% of citizens have experienced persistent hostility towards Caucasians. In second place in terms of the strength of hostility caused (6%) are people from Central Asia - Tajiks, Uzbeks, Kazakhs. Americans, Chinese, Arabs, Jews, Balts, Europeans and others irritate 1-2% of respondents each (with a statistical poll error of 3.4%). None of the respondents named Russians or representatives of Slavic peoples among the “unpleasant”.

Almost half (47%) of those who still feel hostility towards someone cannot explain the reason for their own irritation. These people, VTsIOM general director Valery Fedorov explained to Kommersant, are either “embarrassed to answer such questions openly, or no one has told them why they don’t like foreigners.” At the same time, according to VTsIOM, Russians’ sympathy for representatives of other nationalities is selective. The leaders in this unique rating are Russians, whom 36% of respondents sympathize with. In second place (10%) are Belarusians, in third (9%) are Ukrainians. Mr. Fedorov could not explain what the citizens’ sympathies were related to. But he is confident that interethnic tension is decreasing.

Similar trends are observed in Ukraine. “Since 2008, the growth of xenophobia has stopped. In addition, we are observing a new trend - usually the level of xenophobia increases before elections, but this did not happen before the last elections,” Vladimir Paniotto, general director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, told Kommersant. According to him, Ukrainians have begun to treat foreigners better. “We determine the level of xenophobia on a 7-point scale, in which 1 is the willingness of Ukrainians to accept a foreigner into the family, and 7 is an absolute reluctance to see foreigners in the country. In 2009, the level of attitude towards foreigners was 4.33 points, and in February 2010 “4.15 points. That is, residents of Ukraine are ready to see foreigners as guests in the country and as work colleagues,” noted Mr. Paniotto.

Viktor Khamraev, Moscow; Artem Skoropadsky

Foreigners have become like family