Friday, July 10, 2020
Creation of Even Small Federal Territories will Trigger Serious Conflicts, Smirnov Says
Paul Goble
Staunton, July 9 – The creation of even small federal territories around resort areas in the Caucasus mountains and in the area around Sochi could easily trigger serious conflicts among regions and republics and between various ethnic groups, Sergey Smirnov, the head of the Applied Political Science Foundation says.
Nervousness about that possibility, highlighted by the protests in Ingushetia after border changes with Chechnya, has increased in the last few days following the approval of a constitutional amendment putting federal territories at the same level as oblasts, krays and republics, and promises to adopt a law implementing that soon (1tv.ru/news/2020-07-03/388787-tsentrizbirkom_nazval_itogi_golosovaniya_po_konstitutsii_legitimnymi_pravdivymi_i_besspornymi). Read more →