Nogaideli: residents of Georgia forget Russian

The young generation of Georgians practically cannot speak Russian; nevertheless, according to latest sociology polls, the number of Georgian residents who want better Russian-Georgian relations has radically increased. This was stated by ex-prime-minister of Georgia Zurab Nogaideli, now the leader of the oppositional movement "For Fair Georgia" in the course of the recent space TV bridge Moscow-Tbilisi, where the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was present.

"My son who is 13 now would have not spoken Russian either, if I hadn't given him to a Russian teacher at the kindergarten. Many of his generation already don't speak Russian. This language in Georgia is being forgotten, very few people younger than 25 can freely express their thoughts in Russian," Mr Nogaideli said.

According to his story, Moscow and Tbilisi have a time lag of some 10-15 years at most to restore the previous level of relations. "Later, it may prove impossible, since then another - culturally different - generation will come, which may, probably, have no need of that," Mr Nogaideli believes.

As to Russian schools in Georgia, the oppositionist has noted that "they are less and less in number," but not because they are deliberately closed but because of lack of demand for training.

Let us remind you that the videobridge Moscow-Tbilisi took place on March 16 in the hall of the RIA "Novosti" in Moscow. There, Mr Nogaideli answered Russian journalists' questions.

"Under the latest polls, conducted in January, 70 percent of the population want improvement of Russian-Georgian relations. A similar poll last September gave only 10 percent of Georgians who wanted such improvements," said Nogaideli but did not specify who exactly conducted the polls.