Situation in Northern Caucasus is aggravated by relations of Kremlin with local elites, experts in Caucasus believe

The participants of the roundtable on "Caucasus in history of Russia: issues in dispute", held in Moscow with participation of experts in Caucasus and employees of the representative offices of the North-Caucasian republics, highlighted the relationships of the federal government and local elites as one of the major problems of Northern Caucasus.

This problem was topical back in the 17^th century; it is same topical now, said Vadim Trepavlov, the head of the history centre of Russia's nations and interethnic relations at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"The issue about the ability to attract and win over the local elite is an eternal issue; and not always it was properly solved," he said.

Mr Trepavlov was supported by Mikhail Volokhonskiy, a senior fellow of the centre for the Caucasus and regional security of the MGIMO (Moscow State Institute for Foreign Relations), who noted that disagreements of decision-makers in the capital of the empire (St Petersburg or Moscow) and local executors is an age-old problem.

"The main challenge now is to find common ground between those who really know the Caucasus and those who make decisions in the country's capital," said Volokhonskiy.

Academician Valery Tishkov, the Director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology named after N. N. Miklukho-Maklay, who chaired the roundtable, pointed out that the new strategy of the national policy that assumes the formation of general civil nation would help to integrate the natives of the Caucasus into the Russian society.

"This is a big step forward compared to previous festival concepts of peoples' friendship. This is quite attractive for the suburbs," said Tishkov.

Nikolai Bugai, the chief researcher of the Institute of Russian History of the RussianAcademy of Sciences, called the economic backwardness as the main problem of the region and noted that, in his opinion, through addressing economic issues the situation in the region can be repaired.