Rising Pro-Russian Sentiments In Georgia

The West is still a declared priority of the ruling Georgian coalition, Georgian Dream. However, when compared to the old government of Mikheil Saakashvili, the current government treads more lightly around questions about Russia, showing a possible willingness to reconcile with Moscow, said Nino Zhizhilashvili, the Dean of the Caucasus School of Media in Tbilisi.

There are still no formal diplomatic relations between Russia and its southern neighbor, but there have been talks between top-level diplomats from Russia and Georgia.

Zhizhilashvili added that many Russian-funded NGOs and organizations within Georgia have began to more actively raise questions about reestablishing closer ties with Russia.

Hromadske International's Ian Bateson and Nataliya Gumenyuk spoke with Nino Zhizhilashvili via Skype on April 5, 2015.