Why Russians do not want to move to Western countries

A recent opinion poll showed that as many as 89 percent of Russian citizens do not want to move from Russia to foreign countries for permanent residence. This is the largest indicator in the history of observations, sociologists said. The study was conducted by All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center WCIOM.

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Only ten percent of respondents said that they would like to leave Russia. Every fifth of them said that they would try to do so in the upcoming two years. At the same time, a half of those willing to immigrate do not take any effort to materialize their wish.

As for reasons, most of the polled said that they would be willing to live in a foreign country because of low standard of living, discontent with the policies of the Russian administration and the aspiration to live in conditions of social stability.

Germany was named to be the most attractive country to immigrate to. Thirteen percent of respondents said that they would choose to move to Germany. The top five list also includes the United States, Australia, Italy and the UK.

Experts note that sentiments in the Russian society have improved recently. Earlier, experts of the Institute for Social Analysis and Forecasts at the Russian Academy of Science and Technology conducted another study, which revealed that fears of losing job decreased among Russian citizens by 8.5 percent compared to last year, whereas apprehension to experiencing salary delays decreased by 6.7%.

Meanwhile, the assessment of Russia's economic situation has peaked since 2008. WCIOM sociologists found out that 17 percent of Russians assess the state of affairs in economy above average. The index of assessments of the country's economic situation grew to 51 points.

Pravda.Ru talked to Yuri Kublanovsky - essayist, critic, publicist and poet to find out his views about the wish of the Russians to change their country of residence.

"Do you think that the attitude to Russians in the world has changed? Do the Russians tend not to identify themselves with present-day Europe?"

"No matter how hard life in Russia might be, the level of patriotism grows steadily. I travel a lot around Russia, and I just see it. Compared with the 1990s, the current level of patriotic understanding of life is completely different now. East or West, home is best, and people know it. No matter how hard life in Russia may seem, this is our home and this is where we are destined to live and change for the better."

"Is it about the mentality and spirituality of the Russian people?"

"I believe that this is simply natural for us. We just cannot be otherwise. We can see what has been happening in Ukraine, and we can try to compare what kind of attitude people have in Ukraine and in Russia. The contrast is striking. After all, people escape from Ukraine, as if Ukraine is Libya or Iraq."

"The state often encourages immigration. During Gorbachev and Yeltsin's stay in power, there was an exodus of Russian Germans from the country. One may also recall the departure of Jews to Israel. Does Russia work for consolidation now?"

"I am convinced the Russian society has been getting more consolidated recently. People start to realize that man shall not live by bread alone, there is something above small everyday concerns. In Russia, unlike in the West, morality is alive. In Russia, it is impossible to imagine a Christian party voting in favor of gay marriage. It is impossible to imagine this in Russia, but we can see this happening in Germany, and they consider it absolutely normal."

Pravda.Ru

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