RIGA. May 15 (Interfax) - The Latvian government has commissioned a public opinion survey aimed at assessing sentiments among the country's Russian-speaking residents following the events in Ukraine, the Diena newspaper reported on Thursday.
The government wants to gain better insight into both the sentiments of the country's Russian-speaking population and their attitude toward the state in general.
The recipient of the poll results, the company that will conduct it and its costs have not been disclosed for national security reasons, the newspaper said.
The Latvian prime minister's spokesperson, Dzeina Tamulevica, for her part, told Diena that the secrecy surrounding the survey could be explained by its direct link with the state's security.
However, Tamulevica, assured the newspaper that the results of the poll would be published later.
According to Diena, Latvian political figures decided to commission such a survey in response to the Ukrainian crisis apparently because they are concerned over the possibility of ethnic conflicts and social tensions erupting in the country.
In addition to that, Latvian officials are troubled by the growing influence of Russian media outlets on Russian-speaking people living in Latvia.