Khloponin: Russia should perceive Northern Caucasus as its strategic region

Vice-Premier Alexander Khloponin, Plenipotentiary of Russian President in the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD), believes that Russia should form its attitude to the Caucasus as to country's strategic region.

"The Caucasus is not a nuclear bomb and not a powder keg, on which we sit. It is a strategic territory for Russia," Mr Khloponin said to journalists in Moscow.

For this very reason, the Plenipotentiary has emphasized, "that amount of money is invested into Northern Caucasus; and so many armed forces are kept there."

According to his version, there are four reasons why Northern Caucasus should be regarded as a strategic region. Firstly, "progress in Russia's intellectual potentials will go via the Caucasus."

Secondly, "the Caucasus is a powerful buffer, which constrains penetration into Russia of all that muck and rubbish - terrorism, extremism and pseudo-Islam," the Plenipotentiary believes.

Thirdly, the Caucasus is "a unique bridge to the Middle East, which is also a strategic territory for Russia," and, fourthly, the Caucasus "is our today's demographic potential, it is the only territory, due to which the population of the Russian Federation increments," the Russian News Service quotes Mr Khloponin as saying.

According to the top-ranking official, for Northern Caucasus to develop we need to progress in two directions: "to end those beasts hiding in forests, not so many in number remaining," and to do something so that "the generation, which grows up in this region, learn to work, not walk with firearms."

"For this purpose, we need to build production facilities here - this should be the basis of development strategy for Northern Caucasus," the "Yuga.Ru" quotes Mr Khloponin.