Calls for revising Chechen-Stavropol Territory border remind situation of the 1990s

The statements of Cossack activists about the return of the Naursky and Shelkovskoy Districts of Chechnya to the Stavropol Territory are an attempt to earn political points on this topic, as it was in the 1990s, scientists assert, noting that the border is fixed, and the authorities have no disagreement on the issue.

Earlier, the political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" stated that the delimitation of the border of Chechnya with the Stavropol Territory and North Ossetia is unlikely to pass without controversy, while social tensions create the basis for acute ethnic conflicts.

Similar appeals were made in the 1990s against the background of military conflicts, the conflict expert, Yuri Efimov, has recalled. If the situation aggravates, first of all, residents of border areas can suffer, he believes.

The Chechen-Stavropol Territory border is fully fixed on maps, and no demarcation is required, Victor Avksentiev, an ethnologist, asserts.

The border is clearly defined, but a kilometre or two have no matter for residents of both regions, said Alexei Gunya, a geographer.

Prior to the warfare in Chechnya, Chechens did not live in the Naursky and Shelkovskoy Districts; and there were no ethnic conflicts there. However, now the absolute majority of residents of the districts are Chechens; and mosques are actively being built there.