Dissertation: Nika Loladze

Nika Loladze: Impact of Current Socio-Economic Transformations on Migratory Movements of Georgia's Greek Community.

Mass emigration processes from Georgia started right after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and ethnic groups residing in Georgia were and still are actively involved in this process. Based on this research, it becomes clear that the push factors of Georgian Greeks’ migration are the crises following the break-up of the Soviet Union – economic collapse, unemployment, opening up of borders, and the open door policy of the Greek government with regards to Greeks from the former Soviet countries. On the other hand, the issues of “repatriation” and language of belonging play a surprisingly insignificant role in shaping the process of migration.